Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket with Mexico’s Morelos 3

A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket climbed into space Saturday from California with a $1.6 billion polar-orbiting weather satellite for NOAA, the first of four upgraded observatories designed to keep vital meteorological data flowing to forecasters for the next two decades.

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad as an Atlas 5 rocket counts down to liftoff at 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT) Thursday with the GOES-S weather satellite.

A Chinese rocket measuring around 100 feet long that launched earlier this month will likely plunge back into Earth’s atmosphere some time Monday, becoming the most massive object in decades to fall out of orbit in an uncontrolled manner.