Atlas 5 NROL-55 launch full broadcast

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket departs Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 10:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EST; 1830 GMT) to deliver the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imaging satellite into polar orbit for DigitalGlobe.

An early bird rocket launch from the Florida spaceport will take to the skies before dawn Thursday when an Atlas 5 lofts a classified U.S. government satellite.

The Air Force’s miniature space shuttle and its ride to orbit have been joined together inside an assembly building at Cape Canaveral in preparation for launch May 20.