The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket treated stargazers in Europe to a surprise display on the night of June 23, when a plume of rocket propellant briefly became visible to the naked eye. SpaceX's Transporter 14 mission lifted off from California's Vanderberg Space Force Base earlier this week carrying 70 commercial payloads bound for low-Earth orbit aboard one of the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rockets.

A SpaceX flight with astronauts from four different countries has launched on a two-week mission to the International Space Station. (Scripps News)