Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

Watch a replay of the liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday from the Guiana Space Center, a spaceport carved from the edge of the Amazon rainforest. The launcher carried four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.

Mission managers Tuesday granted approval to proceed with Wednesday’s rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket and Thursday’s launch to deliver the commercial Cygnus cargo ship into orbit to resupply the International Space Station.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will hurl the four MMS satellites into a highly elliptical Earth orbit on March 12 has completed its basic build up at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility.