Stats: Delta 4 history and backlog (updated March 30)

The third Space Base Infrared Systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, or SBIRS GEO Flight 3, was hoisted atop the Atlas 5 on Jan.12 to complete the pre-flight assembly of the 189-foot-tall rocket for launch.

United Launch Alliance crews at Cape Canaveral are finishing final preparations for an Atlas 5 rocket launch Saturday evening to dispatch three U.S. military satellites directly to an orbital perch more than 20,000 miles over the equator.

This photo gallery includes a series of spectacular pictures of the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.