Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

NASA and SpaceX officials briefed the media Wednesday on the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule on a resupply flight to the International Space Station.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:21 p.m. EDT (1721 GMT) with a satellite to replenish the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System navigation network.

A test-firing of a Raptor engine on the latest in a series of Starship test rockets Tuesday night in Texas moved SpaceX closer to performing a low-altitude “hop” to gather data on the vehicle’s launch and landing characteristics.