Photos: California’s predawn liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket

Views from an airliner, close-up high-speed launch pad cameras, and photographers around the Guiana Space Center in the jungle of South America show the twilight launch of a European Ariane 5 rocket Saturday with three commercial satellites heading for orbits more than 22,000 miles over the equator.

Up to 24 launches are planned from Cape Canaveral in 2015, thanks to jam-packed manifests for SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to send up satellites for the U.S. military, NASA and commercial telecom operators.

These photos show the fiery liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 10, riding three pillars of flame from its hydrogen-fueled RS-68A main engines.