Videos: Atlas 5 caps a generation of GPS launches

The most powerful rocket ever built by India, boosted by two solid-fueled strap-on motors, a twin-engine core and a cryogenic upper stage, lifted off Monday to prove it can haul satellites into orbit nearly twice as heavy as India’s existing launchers. Launch occurred at 1158 GMT (7:58 a.m. EDT).

These photos show NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite undergoing preparations for launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

There was a groundbreaking Friday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 to start building the astronaut access tower to board Boeing’s CST-100 capsules atop United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets.