Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday carrying the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket was launched on-time today at 2:36 p.m. EDT carrying a new Global Positioning System spacecraft to advance the navigation network with every launch.

These photos show the stacking of Japan’s eighth H-2B rocket inside an assembly building at the Tanegashima Space Center over the past few weeks, followed by rollout of the 186-foot-tall vehicle to its launch pad Tuesday.