Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

The 330-foot-tall mobile service tower is rolled away from the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s pad 37B in the hours before the scheduled liftoff. The 9-million-pound gantry was retracted the length of a football field in preparation for launch of the Air Force’s WGS 9 communications satellite into Earth orbit.

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched with 14 satellites, including a dozen “SuperDove” Earth-imaging CubeSats for Planet, at 10:58 p.m. EST Tuesday (0358 GMT Wednesday).

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Wednesday to begin a day-and-a-half pursuit of the International Space Station.