Stats: Atlas 5 history and backlog

Orbiting the world in seclusion for the past year, the Air Force’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane marks the anniversary of its launch today.

Resembling a cocooned insect with antennas and appendages tucked snuggly to its body for launch, NASA’s latest communications relay hub will be shot into space Friday to blossom in geosynchronous orbit for routing signals to and from the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and three dozen science observatories.

Watch the pre-launch news conference held Monday, April 17 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to preview liftoff of the Orbital ATK commercial Cygnus OA-7 cargo ship aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for the International Space Station.