Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

A state-of-the-art satellite to provide high-speed Internet connectivity across North America, specializing in areas where terrestrial networks are not available, will be mounted atop its booster rocket Saturday in preparation for launch next weekend.

Using a new, uprated main engine for the first time on a rocket of its kind, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Medium+ vehicle will soar into space Wednesday night carrying a $566 million Air Force communications satellite.

A hundred days after the last U.S. commercial resupply of the International Space Station by a Cygnus cargo ship launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket, the booster and freighter duo will do it again Tuesday.