Photos: Atlas launch seen from press site

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 197 feet tall and and weighing 1.2 million pounds, unleashes 2.4 million pounds of thrust from its main engine and four solid-fuel boosters at 6:42 p.m. EST (2342 GMT) Saturday to launch the GOES-R weather observer for NASA and NOAA from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket fired away from a California military base and disappeared into an overcast cloud deck Saturday on its final flight, carrying a NASA research satellite into orbit and closing the book on a nearly 30-year legacy of launches.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket was launched on-time today at 2:36 p.m. EDT carrying a new Global Positioning System spacecraft to advance the navigation network with every launch.