Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

his photo gallery shows the classified National Reconnaissance Office payload, already encapsulated in the 14-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility.

The 20th flight of a Rocket Lab Electron launcher appeared to run into trouble a few minutes after liftoff at 7:11 a.m. EDT (1111 GMT) Saturday from New Zealand, when video showed the rocket’s upper stage tumbling and shutting off its engine prematurely. The rocket was carrying two commercial BlackSky Earth observation satellites into orbit.

Bad weather offshore has forced SpaceX and NASA to delay Thursday’s planned launch of the Crew Dragon by a day. Better conditions are expected on Friday for a 5:49 a.m. EDT (0949 GMT) liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center.