Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT) Tuesday on the company’s first mission dedicated to the newly-established U.S. Space Force. The Falcon 9 carried a GPS navigation satellite into orbit.

This is a collection of images taken during the three previous flights of the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mini space shuttle.

NASA is moving forward with a crucial test-firing of the core stage of the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket as soon as Jan. 17 after engineers were satisfied with the results of a fueling test last month.