Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

SpaceX test-fired a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket Monday evening on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, setting the stage for a launch later this week carrying the Japanese-built, Qatari-owned Es’hail 2 communications satellite to orbit.

Departing Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin hands over International Space Station command to NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough.

An Indian mapping satellite and 30 other payloads vaulted into space Friday aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, arriving in an on-the-mark orbit more than 300 miles above Earth.