Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

Iran’s second try in less than a month to send a satellite into orbit apparently failed shortly after liftoff from a remote desert launch pad under daily surveillance from a fleet of commercial imaging spacecraft, according to U.S. government officials and independent analysts.

Three experimental satellites sponsored by the U.S. military lifted off on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s commercial spaceport in New Zealand on Sunday at 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT).

Look back on the May 30 launch of a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with this gallery of photos showing the 19-story launcher climbing into the sky with the Yamal 601 communications satellite.