Photos: Pad cameras capture Atlas 5 launch

A Spanish Earth observation spacecraft and a French research satellite to probe luminous phenomena above thunderstorms are packaged inside the nose cone of an Italian-built Vega rocket for launch Monday night from French Guiana.

The nuclear power generator for NASA’s Perseverance rover has been installed on the spacecraft atop an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral, and mission managers gave a green light Wednesday to continue preparations for the rover’s July 30 launch toward Mars.

Launch startup Relativity Space has won approval from the U.S. Air Force to take over a disused launch pad at Cape Canaveral for the company’s methane-fueled Terran 1 rocket, a 3D-printed launcher that could carry small satellites into orbit by the end of 2020.