Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

Brisk upper level winds blowing from the west thwarted a second try to launch a new NOAA weather satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket Wednesday, likely postponing the liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California until at least Saturday.

United Launch Alliance teams mounted a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on top of an Atlas 5 rocket Monday at Cape Canaveral in preparation for a liftoff scheduled just after sunset Nov. 3.

The newest Global Positioning System replenishment satellite went into operation Tuesday night, five weeks after ascending to space from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.