Photos: Predawn launch of Atlas 5

A Japanese H-2A rocket is set for launch Thursday with the country’s second navigation satellite, growing a network of beacons in the sky to give emergency responders, security forces and the public more accurate positioning and timing signals in Japan and neighboring regions.

Crowned with a European-built communications satellite designed to broadcast television over the Americas, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster lifted off Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A Wednesday at 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253 GMT).

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was transferred from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 today for Friday’s launch of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M that directly supports the International Space Station and various science missions.