Photos: Atlas launch seen from pad cameras

Boeing’s work on the International Space Station, the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule and NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System are under the umbrella of John Elbon, who leads the company’s space exploration division in Houston.

Carrying a sophisticated billion-dollar missile detection satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday with 1.6 million pounds of thrust from a Russian RD-180 main engine and twin solid rocket boosters.

Lending a helping hand to resume the stalled U.S. supply chain to the International Space Station, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send a commercial Cygnus cargo craft in pursuit of the outpost Thursday.