Making its second launch in just six days, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight blasted off Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Photo Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News
See earlier NROL-55 coverage.
Our Atlas archive.
Delta 4
Recap story: Triple-barrel Delta 4-Heavy launches national security satellite
Two million pounds of firepower successfully launched a behemoth Delta 4-Heavy rocket and a top-secret eavesdropping surveillance satellite into space Saturday, embarking on a taxing climb directly into geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth to deploy one of the pinnacles of U.S. intelligence-gathering.
Mission Reports
China launches new Gaofen Earth-imaging satellite
Atlas 5
Photos: Centaur upper stage hoisted atop Atlas 5 rocket for Starliner launch
United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral hoisted a Centaur upper stage on top of an Atlas 5 rocket Friday at launch pad 41, completing the initial build-up of the launch vehicle slated to carry Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule into space in December on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.