Waterside view of Delta 4 GPS 2F-6 Launch

Follow the Delta 4 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 launch pad with the U.S. Air Force’s WGS 8 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:53 p.m. EST.

VIDEO: After a cliff-hangar countdown, Atlantis thunders to life and majestically rockets into history, putting on one last sky show for spectators on NASA’s 135th and final shuttle launch on July 7, 2011. (Membership Required)

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket climbed into orbit Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a top secret spy satellite, adding a new set of eyes in the sky for the U.S. government’s intelligence community and nudging part of the Delta 4 family closer to retirement.