Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

A month after an X-37B mini-space shuttle glided to a landing on Kennedy Space Center’s runway in Florida, the U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that the spaceplane’s next mission will launch in August aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the first time.

On the eve of liftoff with a Korean communications satellite, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was lifted upright Sunday at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Watch a time lapse replay of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket being raised vertical Thursday at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mock countdown and engine test, ahead of a scheduled liftoff this weekend with an Intelsat communications satellite.