Video: Atlas 5 Rocket launches with GPS Satellite

The U.S. Air Force’s ninth Global Positioning System (GPS) 2F satellite, GPS 2F-9, is encapsulated in the Delta 4 rocket’s four-meter-diameter nose cone at a processing facility and then moved to the launch pad at Complex 37 for mating to its booster inside the mobile service tower.

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imaging satellite for DigitalGlobe. Launch is scheduled for Friday at 10:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EST; 1830 GMT).

Taking delivery of the Atlas 5 rocket that will boost an advanced weather observatory into space next month, United Launch Alliance and the Air Force are back at work following disruptions from Hurricane Matthew.