Videos: Recent rocket launches – SpaceX Falcon 9, Ariane 5, Russian Soyuz and Rokot

** Dec. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 Dragon Resupply Mission (CRS-16) from Cape Canaveral: Falcon 9 successfully lofts CRS-16 Dragon enroute to ISS – Booster spins out but soft lands in water – NASASpaceFlight.com

[ Update 3: Another good view of the booster. Shows it clear detail the stage when it starts to spin and wobble, the engine struggling to maintain control, and ends with the legs deploying and the soft landing:

Update 2: Another view of the water landing:

Yesterday’s #Falcon9 sea landing from a different perspective.
Failing with @elonmusk is relative.

Congrats .@SpaceX for another successful delivery to the #ISS pic.twitter.com/UXs2zfsa1U

— Stardom (@StardomSpace) December 6, 2018

Update: Video from Elon showing the landing from a camera on the booster:

Engines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon. pic.twitter.com/O3h8eCgGJ7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2018

]

Unfortunately, a stuck hydraulic pump on a guide fin caused the first stage to miss the landing pad and go into the water offshore:

The return trajectories of the boosters always aim for the water offshore. Then, if everything is working OK, the engine and fins at the last minute will guide the rocket over to the pad, which lies just beside the beach.

** Dec.4: Ariane V launched two satellites – GSAT-11 for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute): Ariane 5 conducts dual passenger launch with GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A – NASASpaceFlight.com

** Dec.3: SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A mission puts 64 satellites into orbit after launch from Vandenberg AFB in California. First stage lands for third time: Spaceflight Successfully Launches 64 Satellites on First Dedicated Rideshare Mission – Spaceflight