Spectacular images of Wednesday night's launch capture history in the making as the first Emirati blasted into space.
Gagarin's Start - the launch pad that sent Yuri Gagarin to space in 1961 - was also used for the last time.
It cannot accommodate Russia's next generation of Federation-class rockets and the pictures capture its final usage.
Many of the photographs are by Nasa's official photographer Bill Ingalls, who has shot space launches for three decades, often using remote cameras to get closer to the blast-off.
An image of his melted camera went viral on social media last year when he tried to take pictures of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.
Although the camera wasn't directly hit by the boosters, they started a grass fire that engulfed his equipment.
