Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

A NASA official said Friday that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft could be ready to ferry astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station as soon as early March, pending the results from a major demonstration of the ship’s launch abort system this weekend, a pair of parachute drop tests, and space station crew schedules.

This collection of photographs shows the Air Force’s Global Positioning System 2F-10 navigation satellite being encapsulated in the Atlas 5 nose cone and hoisted atop the rocket for launch July 15.

SpaceX has delayed liftoff of its next cargo ship bound for the International Space Station until Friday, setting up a one-shot attempt to launch the commercial supply carrier from Cape Canaveral before a potential slip to late December due to high solar angles in orbit.