Photos: Falcon takes flight

A collection of pad photos from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight to deploy the GPS 2F-12 satellite for use by the U.S. military and billions of civilians around the world.

This collection of photographs shows the Air Force’s Global Positioning System 2F-12 navigation satellite being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 nose cone and hoisted atop the rocket for flight on Friday morning.

These photos of Thursday evening’s successful relaunch of a Falcon 9 rocket booster, which returned to Earth after a maiden mission last year, were taken at the Kennedy Space Center press site about 3.1 miles from launch pad 39A.