Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

It will take approximately one hour for a Japanese H-2A rocket to propel the Hope Mars orbiter on a trajectory to escape Earth’s gravitational bond, kicking off a seven-month journey to the Red Planet.

A communications satellite built for the South Korean military arrived at Cape Canaveral this week from an Airbus factory in France to begin final preparations for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in July.

A Chinese small satellite launcher failed after liftoff Saturday, destroying a commercial Earth-imaging payload before it could enter orbit.