Atlas 5 launches NROL-61 as seen from the NASA Press Site

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California played host to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that sent the NROL-79 payload into orbit today.

The night before its planned flight coupled the photogenic United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and a gorgeous sunset at Cape Canaveral.

An Atlas 5 rocket carrying a classified national security satellite was rolled to the launch pad this morning for Thursday’s flight to bolster the U.S. intelligence-gathering space architecture.