Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 with X-37B on program’s fourth flight

The term “direct flight” will go to new heights Friday with a four-hour flight by a Soyuz rocket and its Fregat upper stage to deliver five satellites to three distinct orbital destinations hundreds of miles above Earth.

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket took off at 1:12 a.m. EDT (0512 GMT) Saturday carrying five payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of New South Wales at Canberra in Australia. The launch was the first for Rocket Lab since January due to delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.

This photo gallery shows the U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System communications satellite No. 4 being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing for the planned Aug. 31 liftoff.