Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

A NASA spacecraft under construction for launch in 2016 to retrieve samples from asteroid Bennu could benefit from an extra load of fuel, allowing an extended stay at the asteroid or a return to Earth a year early.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Intelsat 35e communications satellite into orbit 32 minutes later.

Resuming space launches from the U.S. Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after a half-year infrastructure outage, an Atlas 5 rocket will boost a commercial Earth-imaging bird into orbit on Friday.