Photos: Final batch of EchoStar 19 launch shots

When the first Delta 2 rocket took off on Valentine’s Day 1989, ideas like navigating by smartphone and driving robots on Mars were science fiction. More than 150 launches over the last 30 years helped change all that.

This photo gallery shows the Mexican Morelos 3 communications satellite being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing for the planned Oct. 2 liftoff.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said this weekend that the company is about one month away from launching the first Crew Dragon spacecraft on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, a precursor to a demonstration launch with astronauts later this year. He also warned that early test flights of the commercial crew capsule, built under contract to NASA, will be “especially dangerous.”