Photos: Atlas launch seen from pad cameras

The constellation-building Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance successfully deployed the fifth communications spacecraft for the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System today to form a new rugged smartphone network for the U.S. military.

The U.S. military’s mini space shuttle successfully returned to Earth today, touching down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after spending 718 days in space.

A space-bound NASA satellite was hauled aboard a military transport aircraft from a Southern California factory to the launch site in Florida on Friday and its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket booster arrived by sea from the manufacturing plant in Alabama today.