Stats: Atlas 5 history and backlog

In a breath-taking display at daybreak Wednesday, an Atlas rocket powered an enormous U.S. Navy satellite into space to close the last remaining gap and give global reach to the military’s new mobile communications system.

This photo gallery shows the Mexican Morelos 3 communications satellite being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing for the planned Oct. 2 liftoff.

The launch of the next test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule has been delayed to no earlier than April 2 after workers replaced spacecraft avionics units damaged in a power surge during testing.