Photos: Tuesday’s Atlas 5 rollout

The ubiquitous Global Positioning System that ties the space program to everyday life on Earth, providing precise navigation to the world through a constellation of orbiting satellites, will be strengthened courtesy of a new craft launched Wednesday.

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 189-foot-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imaging satellite.

A collection of liftoff photos from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight to deploy the Morelos 3 communications satellite for Mexico.