Photos: Atlas launch seen from press site

Departing on three pillars of fire, the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off at 1:51 p.m. from Cape Canaveral for a classified national security satellite deployment.

Onboard video cameras captured critical events during the 50th Atlas 5 rocket launch, beaming back views in stunning clarity of staging and spacecraft separation.

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 20-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.