Video: Saturday’s SpaceX launch

The first pair of RD-181 rocket engines set to launch on Orbital ATK’s redesigned Antares rocket are in the final stages of acceptance testing in Russia ahead of their export to the United States in early July, officials said.

Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station.

SpaceX flew 18 payloads to a mid-inclination orbit including an intelligence-gathering satellite for the military of South Korea. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:09 a.m. EDT (0509 UTC).