Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket made its third trip to a Cape Canaveral launch pad Thursday, rolling into position for liftoff Friday afternoon with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

An Iranian Simorgh rocket launch carrying an Earth observation spacecraft faltered before reaching orbit Tuesday after analysts used imagery from commercial U.S. satellites in recent weeks to track preparations for the mission.

The 50th Atlas 5 rocket lifts off From Cape Canaveral carrying a GPS satellite.