A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket departed Cape Canaveral at 11:36 a.m. EDT (1536 GMT) to deploy the Global Positioning System 2F-10 navigation satellite.

On track for launch from Cape Canaveral in July, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been secured to its rocket-powered descent stage and back shell, part of the protective shield that will safeguard the robot when it arrives at Mars next year.

There were more successful space launches in 2014 than in any year since 1992, with Russia, the United States and China responsible for more than 80 percent of global launch activity.