Video replay: reaction to Soyuz TMA-15 launch
A first reaction from ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and ESA Director of Human Spaceflight Simonetta Di Pippo following the launch of the Soyuz TMA-15 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz launched on 27 May 2009 carrying ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk to the International Space Station.
The Soyuz launch sequence is not underlined by a countdown: according to Russian tradition, applause is only given some eight minutes after launch with the announcement of orbital injection. This moment is captured in this video montage.