Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket roars off the pad with the Global Positioning System 2F-9 satellite. Photos by ULA.

With five side-mounted solid rocket boosters for added power, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully deployed the U.S. Navy’s fifth MUOS mobile communications satellite.

A commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule packed with a robot assistant for the International Space Station’s crew, pouches of extra strong coffee, and a NASA science instrument designed to track the health of plants on Earth left Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Friday on a three-day pursuit of the orbiting research lab.