Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

The Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket roll to the launch pad on a foggy Florida morning before going upright shortly before sunset later in the day.

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.

China chalked up another launch Thursday with the on-target delivery of a Beidou navigation satellite destined for an operating post in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator.