Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

This collection of photographs shows the Air Force’s Global Positioning System 2F-12 navigation satellite being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 nose cone and hoisted atop the rocket for flight on Friday morning.

A rocket engine that could power United Launch Alliance’s next-generation rocket has passed a major design review, clearing the way for full-scale hotfire testing starting next year and certification for test flights in 2019, according to Aerojet Rocketdyne, the powerplant’s developer.

Poised to embark on a 7-year adventure to Asteroid Bennu and back, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return spacecraft was moved to the launch pad today aboard its Atlas 5 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening.