![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DYLQZ5RZMUDHXKSTTMLASMSGI4.jpg?smart=true&auth=86d4ec4e184648125e64c2d28656bf7abfdd725cd99534cc3a1df4d413d59b02&width=400&height=225)
Hazza Al Mansouri appears calm and at ease as he walks to the rocket before take-off. Vyacheslav Oseledko / EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LKCPVXZ4EBWFRV6E7QYM5FMMIM.jpg?smart=true&auth=9e9550635dc6c83ca737efa6c243018cfc5f51ebf3da3f76053d20d9b6a4dac8&width=400&height=225)
This incredible image by Nasa's official photographer Bill Ingalls captures up close the moment the Soyuz-FG rockets fire, lifting it and the MS-15 spacecraft its carrying into the stars. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LR6LMJCJRUO7QRYTYIBWYO3G5E.jpg?smart=true&auth=dd310d27a0343956e9939a2a7b23ec768fcb473a48650f80ed3080438104bc64&width=400&height=225)
The rocket leaves the Gagarin's Start launch pad at 5.57pm UAE time (6.57pm Kazakhstan time) propelling the Soyuz into the sky. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NHXWRRTXEPSL6BXSUBEDA6SZ4.jpg?smart=true&auth=c23089e670d9d4c2eef5bf68df607c0d996cb0d646d82e7be003b447708db4f6&width=400&height=225)
The rocket leaves the Gagarin's Start launch pad at 5.57pm UAE time (6.57pm Kazakhstan time) propelling the Soyuz into the sky. Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/I6KOUITBMZ3U2ADYQTBNKL4R6E.jpg?smart=true&auth=ac0d0d221e472fd2e1469b2fd4464619714636c7455d3dd49ab2b104ceea2b59&width=400&height=225)
The Soyuz is seen in this long exposure photograph as it launches with Expedition 61 crew members Jessica Meir, Oleg Skripochka and Hazza Al Mansouri from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/4KLMKI63DX62VM7DEZYK4O3YNI.jpg?smart=true&auth=e34ba9e1ead33f14f56d639800de05f7787207ed14f720ecb38a13127e1a381b&width=400&height=225)
The rocket soars into the clouds moments after launch. Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZKRVGCHOJFXJG7QGNTFCJ4IBRI.jpg?smart=true&auth=32c7b01407c419f556460f3dab6ba03da9ff60a3fb0583417f19b06005ffbb41&width=400&height=225)
This image taken moments earlier shows how the launch pad functions, with the incredible heat from the boosters funnelled away from the rocket into a blast zone. Gagarin's Start has been used for Soyuz flights since 1961 but Wednesday's launch was its last, as it cannot accommodate Russia's new generation of 'Federation' space ships. Maxim Shipenkov / EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/UVS37OHKT3PCQFDGTCIEIKENPU.jpg?smart=true&auth=7357e7b0e2fb5fb138d69421b8ee30402531f63c70925dbc905ec72e000098c8&width=400&height=225)
The Soyuz rocket is pictured in the early hours of Wednesday, before the launch. Soyuz MS-15 is the last space ship that will take-off from the Gagarin's Start launch pad at Baikonur. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DYLQZ5RZMUDHXKSTTMLASMSGI4.jpg?smart=true&auth=86d4ec4e184648125e64c2d28656bf7abfdd725cd99534cc3a1df4d413d59b02&width=400&height=225)
Hazza Al Mansouri appears calm and at ease as he walks to the rocket before take-off. Vyacheslav Oseledko / EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LKCPVXZ4EBWFRV6E7QYM5FMMIM.jpg?smart=true&auth=9e9550635dc6c83ca737efa6c243018cfc5f51ebf3da3f76053d20d9b6a4dac8&width=400&height=225)
This incredible image by Nasa's official photographer Bill Ingalls captures up close the moment the Soyuz-FG rockets fire, lifting it and the MS-15 spacecraft its carrying into the stars. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LR6LMJCJRUO7QRYTYIBWYO3G5E.jpg?smart=true&auth=dd310d27a0343956e9939a2a7b23ec768fcb473a48650f80ed3080438104bc64&width=400&height=225)
The rocket leaves the Gagarin's Start launch pad at 5.57pm UAE time (6.57pm Kazakhstan time) propelling the Soyuz into the sky. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/2NHXWRRTXEPSL6BXSUBEDA6SZ4.jpg?smart=true&auth=c23089e670d9d4c2eef5bf68df607c0d996cb0d646d82e7be003b447708db4f6&width=400&height=225)
The rocket leaves the Gagarin's Start launch pad at 5.57pm UAE time (6.57pm Kazakhstan time) propelling the Soyuz into the sky. Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/I6KOUITBMZ3U2ADYQTBNKL4R6E.jpg?smart=true&auth=ac0d0d221e472fd2e1469b2fd4464619714636c7455d3dd49ab2b104ceea2b59&width=400&height=225)
The Soyuz is seen in this long exposure photograph as it launches with Expedition 61 crew members Jessica Meir, Oleg Skripochka and Hazza Al Mansouri from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/4KLMKI63DX62VM7DEZYK4O3YNI.jpg?smart=true&auth=e34ba9e1ead33f14f56d639800de05f7787207ed14f720ecb38a13127e1a381b&width=400&height=225)
The rocket soars into the clouds moments after launch. Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZKRVGCHOJFXJG7QGNTFCJ4IBRI.jpg?smart=true&auth=32c7b01407c419f556460f3dab6ba03da9ff60a3fb0583417f19b06005ffbb41&width=400&height=225)
This image taken moments earlier shows how the launch pad functions, with the incredible heat from the boosters funnelled away from the rocket into a blast zone. Gagarin's Start has been used for Soyuz flights since 1961 but Wednesday's launch was its last, as it cannot accommodate Russia's new generation of 'Federation' space ships. Maxim Shipenkov / EPA
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/UVS37OHKT3PCQFDGTCIEIKENPU.jpg?smart=true&auth=7357e7b0e2fb5fb138d69421b8ee30402531f63c70925dbc905ec72e000098c8&width=400&height=225)
The Soyuz rocket is pictured in the early hours of Wednesday, before the launch. Soyuz MS-15 is the last space ship that will take-off from the Gagarin's Start launch pad at Baikonur. Bill Ingalls / Nasa
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DYLQZ5RZMUDHXKSTTMLASMSGI4.jpg?smart=true&auth=86d4ec4e184648125e64c2d28656bf7abfdd725cd99534cc3a1df4d413d59b02&width=400&height=225)
Hazza Al Mansouri appears calm and at ease as he walks to the rocket before take-off. Vyacheslav Oseledko / EPA
UAE to become a global hub for outer space affairs
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is launching a project centre in Abu Dhabi
![Sarwat Nasir](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Farc-authors%2Fthenational%2F5a1721d1-b1fc-47a7-8c35-985395d5a5ae.png?smart=true&auth=59b598b8295381dbbb5492b5ef6a2ffa0d77e07c0a1086053fcdbee600f14b7f&width=70&height=70)
Sarwat Nasir
16 June, 2020
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