Space In-Flight - 2016 Aviation Week Photo Contest Finalists

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket delivers a Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center, in this 3-min.-long exposure photo.  

Ten months after the inflight loss of the Dragon CRS-7 mission, SpaceX resumed deliveries to the International Space Station using its Falcon 9 rocket. This mission (CRS-8), from the Kennedy Space Center, also marked the first successful at-sea recovery of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle, with the rocket's first stage landing aboard SpaceX's autonomous spaceport drone ship.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return mission launches aboard an Atlas V 411 launch vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The 411 configuration uses a single solid rocket booster, requiring the RD-180 engine to compensate with an 8-deg. gimbal.  

The RD-180 liquid fuel engine burns a mixture of RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen, leaving an exhaust plume that shifts from yellow-orange to blue as it ascends to orbit.

Delta IV Heavy's three RS-68A engines burn a mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its first stage off the launch pad. Flames lick the base of the engines during liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

United Launch Alliance delivers Morelos-3 to orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on behalf of the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation. 

United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket lifts off on Oct. 31, 2015, with the GPS 2F-11 satellite. Two U.S. Air Force Reserve 920th Rescue Wing Pave Hawks with search-and-rescue airmen onboard are seen here on security patrol for the USAF 45th Space Wing and ULA. Both flight crews took a "practice" hop several days prior and nailed down the timing and positioning for the photographer to ensure the rocket looked as if it were between both helicopters. 

The December 2015 launch of Orbcomm OG2-M2 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was the first to make use of SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 "Full Thrust" variant, which utilizes  densified propellants to improve rocket performance. 

The 12th and final launch of a GPS Block IIF satellite by United Launch Alliance took place on a crystal-clear morning in February 2016 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from and lands back at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in December 2015.  Rocket reuse is a cornerstone of SpaceX's plan to reduce the cost of spaceflight. 

An Atlas V rocket launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft with just one solid rocket booster, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liquid and solid fuel rocket engines worked together to deliver OSIRIS-REx on its way to the asteroid Bennu. 

Launch of Vega from the European Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 3, 2015.

Launch of Vega from the European Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 3, 2015.

Launch of Vega from the European Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 3, 2015.

Launch of a Russian Soyuz from Pad 1 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 15, 2015.

Launch of a Russian Soyuz from Pad 1 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 15, 2015.

Rocket launch on Feb. 16, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia.

Rocket launch on Feb. 16, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia.

Launch from Pad 200 on March 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Launch from Pad 200 on March 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Soyuz capsule drifts back to Earth on June 18 in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz capsule is about to touch down on June 18 in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz FG rocket with the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft carrying the International Space Station  Expedition 47/48 crewmembers lifts off from the launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on March 19. Crewmembers are NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexei Ovchinin. 

SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS9 launches on a mission to resupply the International Space Station.