Video: Launch camera replays from Friday’s Falcon 9 blastoff

The Atlas 5 was rolled off launch pad 41 to take shelter in the Vertical Integration Facility because of the threat from Tropical Depression Eta. United Launch Alliance has said it is delaying the launch until Nov. 13 at 5:13 p.m. EST (2213 GMT).

Ground crews took steps this week to prepare for the next Falcon 9 launch, set for no earlier than Jan. 30 with a telecom satellite for SES and the Luxembourg government, as SpaceX officials stressed their rocket was not to blame for the rumored loss of a mysterious U.S. government payload after liftoff Sunday.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine at 9:49:51 a.m. local time today to launch the secret NROL-79 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.