Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off with Navy satellite

SpaceX is preparing for liftoff Tuesday of its first mission for the U.S. Space Force, a launch from Cape Canaveral that will deploy a new GPS navigation satellite using a redesigned profile to allow the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster to reserve enough propellant for landing on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Running through a practice countdown to check systems before launching a NASA sample-return probe to Asteroid Bennu in exactly two weeks, an Atlas 5 successfully completed its Wet Dress Rehearsal today.

United Launch Alliance, a union of Atlas and Delta rockets formed a decade ago for U.S. government spacelift needs, will conduct its 25th deployment mission for the country’s spy satellite agency Thursday night.