Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

The launch of a NASA ionospheric research satellite off Florida’s east coast is targeted for Oct. 9 after persistent technical problems with its air-dropped Pegasus rocket stymied two launch opportunities last year.

The launch of Apollo 11 on its historic mission to the Moon as it was broadcast live by NASA on July 16, 1969. The legendary commentator Jack King, who passed away in 2015, counts down to liftoff.

United Launch Alliance ground crews on California’s Central Coast are gearing up to send a classified U.S. government spy satellite into orbit as soon as Monday — weather permitting — aboard one of the company’s four remaining Delta 4-Heavy rockets.