Live coverage: Two satellites lift off aboard Ariane 5

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket powered away from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California tonight to place a classified surveillance satellite into space for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Follow the ascent in our live journal.

The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket has taken off tonight from Cape Canaveral, headed for space to deploy a satellite bought by allied nations to bolster the U.S. military global communications infrastructure.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT), following a delay of more than an hour to troubleshoot a ground hydraulics controller. The Atlas 5 launched with the U.S. military’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency strategic communications satellite.