Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

These photos taken Aug. 6 show the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Israeli-owned Amos 17 communications satellite, backdropped by dreary skies after thunderstorms passed through Cape Canaveral earlier in the day.

Carrying a sophisticated billion-dollar missile detection satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday with 1.6 million pounds of thrust from a Russian RD-180 main engine and twin solid rocket boosters.

Ziplines are used by thrill-seekers in adventures around the world, but now they are coming to the U.S. space program as the emergency escape system for personnel at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41.