Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

United Launch Alliance announced Monday that the company will assume responsibility for commercial marketing and sales for Atlas 5 rocket missions, taking over for a Lockheed Martin division that previously sold Atlas 5 launch services on the commercial market.

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have attached a flying helicopter drone to the belly of the Mars 2020 rover set for launch next July.

Shielded from view within the protective rocket nose cone, a covert surveillance satellite has been mounted atop a Delta 4-Heavy rocket for launch June 4.