Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

The U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System communications satellite No. 5 was encapsulated in the payload fairing at Astrotech on June 4 and then hoisted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Complex 41 on June 13.

The International Space Station crew releases the Cygnus OA-7 commercial cargo ship from the Canadian robotic arm to begin free-flight away from the lab complex, completing 43-day visit that delivered supplies, food and science gear.

The second satellite in a quartet of new NOAA weather observatories is awaiting liftoff Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, heading for a position 22,000 miles from Earth to scan the western United States and Pacific Ocean for typhoons, wildfires and fog.