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Breaking News
  • [ October 24, 2025 ] Live coverage: SpaceX to surpass 2024 orbital launch record with Saturday Starlink mission Falcon 9
  • [ October 24, 2025 ] Airbus, Leonardo and Thales agree to form new European company News
  • [ October 23, 2025 ] SpaceX expends Falcon 9 booster to launch Spainsat NG 2 communications satellite Falcon 9
  • [ October 22, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on 550th Falcon 9 mission Falcon 9
  • [ October 18, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Falcon 9

Photos: More shots of Thursday’s Atlas 5 rocket launch

July 28, 2016 Justin Ray

Departing Cape Canaveral at 8:37 a.m. EDT Thursday, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted a classified national security satellite into orbit for deployment.

Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

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See earlier NROL-61 coverage.

Our Atlas archive.

  • Atlas 5
  • AV-065
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Related Articles

Falcon 9

Falcon 9 launch timeline with the GPS 3 SV01 navigation satellite

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday carrying the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth.

Antares Launcher

Antares launch to resupply space station halted by wayward airplane

November 11, 2017 Stephen Clark

Managers aborted liftoff of a commercial Antares cargo launcher Saturday when an aircraft strayed into restricted airspace near the rocket’s planned flight path east from Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Mission Reports

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches 10 small satellites

October 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

A week after scrubbing a launch attempt to evaluate an issue with an oxygen sensor, Rocket Lab launched a mission Wednesday to deliver 10 small commercial Earth observation satellites to orbit. Liftoff of the Electron booster from Rocket Lab’s spaceport in New Zealand occurred at 5:21 p.m. EDT (2121 GMT).

News Headlines

  • Live coverage: SpaceX to surpass 2024 orbital launch record with Saturday Starlink mission
    October 24, 2025
  • Airbus, Leonardo and Thales agree to form new European company
    October 24, 2025
  • SpaceX expends Falcon 9 booster to launch Spainsat NG 2 communications satellite
    October 23, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on 550th Falcon 9 mission
    October 22, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
    October 18, 2025
  • SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket on record-breaking 31st flight
    October 18, 2025
  • Orion spacecraft arrives at VAB ahead of stacking for Artemis 2
    October 17, 2025
  • SpaceX sends 28 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit in predawn launch
    October 15, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 2nd batch of satellites for Space Development Agency following weather scrub
    October 14, 2025
  • Rocket Lab launches 7th StriX Earth observation satellites for Japan-based Synspective
    October 14, 2025
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