Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

Launching the high-tech GOES-R satellite to revolutionize U.S. weather forecasting, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral on Saturday at 6:42 p.m. EST (2342 GMT).

An Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from launch complex 41 at Cape Canaveral carrying the SBIRS GEO-4 missile early warning satellite in this video shot from the Kennedy Space Center Press Site.

The Atlas 5 rocket lifted the SBIRS GEO Flight 3 missile warning sentinel into orbit, advancing space technology for surveillance and security.