They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship.
They are often powered by a rocket engine or sometimes fired by an explosive charge, since the launching platform is typically stationary or moving slowly.
[1] The first operational surface-to-surface missile was the V-1 flying bomb, it was powered by a pulsejet engine.
Cruise missiles travel at lower speeds and trajectories (often a few meters above ground), always within the atmosphere, and their motor burns during the entire flight.
Ballistic missiles travel at higher speeds and trajectories with a short powered flight (boost phase) followed by a period of typically unpowered flight often exiting the atmosphere (midcourse phase), followed by a high speed unpowered terminal re-entry.