Photos: Atlas 5 launches MUOS 5

These photos show the 215-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft at launch pad 39A, ready for liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast on a critical test flight to the International Space Station.

Ending months of speculation, Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, has won a milestone contract to provide first-stage rocket engines for a powerful new booster being designed by United Launch Alliance to replace its current fleet of Atlas and Delta launchers, the companies announced Thursday.

SpaceX and its visionary founder Elon Musk win the lion’s share of public attention in the commercial rocket arena, with dramatic, increasingly routine booster landings and spectacular stunts like the launch of Musk’s Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket last month.