Atlas 5/Cygnus NASA TV broadcast

Bound for an orbital rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday, a commercial Cygnus freighter was successfully launched by an Atlas 5 rocket Sunday to restart American cargo deliveries to the research outpost.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral today at 7:42 p.m. EST (0042 GMT) to deploy the U.S. military’s SBIRS GEO Flight 3 observatory, equipped with advanced telescopic infrared vision to spot enemy missile launches, for early warning surveillance.

United Launch Alliance technicians were allowed to return to the Atlas 5 pad Tuesday as firefighters continued to wage air and ground campaigns against the wildfire burning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.