Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars

Officials have accepted a Friday launch date for a commercial cargo ship to the International Space Station after Range availability scuttled notions of moving up the Atlas 5 flight by a day.

Aerojet Rocketdyne is pressing ahead with development of a powerful new rocket engine that company officials believe will be an attractive alternative to the Russian-built RD-180 engine that now powers the first stage of United Launch Alliance’s workhorse Atlas 5 booster.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off Thursday night at 10:44 p.m. EDT (0244 GMT) with NASA’s four formation-flying MMS satellites.