Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

SpaceX and its visionary founder Elon Musk win the lion’s share of public attention in the commercial rocket arena, with dramatic, increasingly routine booster landings and spectacular stunts like the launch of Musk’s Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket last month.

The latest launch date was announced late Wednesday evening, following a Tuesday night notice that May 25 was off the table. Liftoff of the Atlas 5 rocket on June 1 is set for 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 UTC).

Closing out 52 days at the International Space Station, an automated Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft left the research outpost Sunday to climb into a higher orbit for deployment of six CubeSats and further engineering experiments, before de-orbiting over Pacific Ocean later this month.