Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

A normally reliable Soyuz FG rocket malfunctioned two minutes after liftoff from Kazakhstan Thursday, forcing a Russian cosmonaut and his NASA crewmate to execute an emergency abort and a steep-but-safe return to Earth a few hundred miles from the launch site. Russian recovery crews reported the crew came through the ordeal in good shape.

A secret Chinese military payload, believed to be a surveillance satellite, successfully flew into space Sunday aboard a Long March 4C rocket on China’s 39th and final scheduled orbital launch attempt of the year.

This is video footage documenting stacking activities for the two-stage United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 194 feet tall, to boost the commercial Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station. Activities occurred at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility.