Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

A groundbreaking Friday ceremonially commenced construction of an astronaut access tower at United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 launch pad in Florida, a 200-foot-tall gantry that will add to the future of U.S. human spaceflight.

A Crew Dragon capsule ferried four astronauts into space Sunday night after a rumbling departure from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, setting off on a 27-hour pursuit of the International Space Station on SpaceX’s first operational crew rotation flight to the orbiting outpost.

This time-lapse video shows a view of launch pad 39A as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft were raised vertical at the historic seaside complex Thursday, May 21, in preparation for liftoff on a piloted test flight to the International Space Station.