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Breaking News
  • [ September 13, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
  • [ September 12, 2025 ] Department of the Air Force, FAA clear SpaceX to launch up to 120 Falcon 9 rockets annually from Cape Canaveral News
  • [ September 12, 2025 ] New U.S. military satellite constellation takes shape with first launch from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
  • [ September 10, 2025 ] SpaceX launches Indonesian communications satellite following three days of scrubs Falcon 9
  • [ September 10, 2025 ] Launch preview: Space Development Agency, SpaceX to launch next-gen national security satellites 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
  • Launch
  • National Reconnaissance Office
  • NROL-61
  • United Launch Alliance

Related Articles

Falcon 9

SpaceX postpones Starlink launch

June 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX scrubbed the planned launch from the Kennedy Space Center of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday with the company’s next 57 Starlink Internet satellites and a pair of commercial Earth-imaging surveillance satellites. Officials did not immediately confirm a new target launch date.

News

Photos: Navy satellite joins Atlas booster rocket for launch

August 24, 2015 Justin Ray

This photo gallery shows the U.S. Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System communications satellite, already encapsulated in the 18-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket last week at the Vertical Integration Facility.

Atlas 5

Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5 rocket

October 8, 2015 Justin Ray

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 19-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on NROL-55.

News Headlines

  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
    September 13, 2025
  • Department of the Air Force, FAA clear SpaceX to launch up to 120 Falcon 9 rockets annually from Cape Canaveral
    September 12, 2025
  • New U.S. military satellite constellation takes shape with first launch from Vandenberg SFB
    September 12, 2025
  • SpaceX launches Indonesian communications satellite following three days of scrubs
    September 10, 2025
  • Launch preview: Space Development Agency, SpaceX to launch next-gen national security satellites
    September 10, 2025
  • Poor weather halts SpaceX launch attempt of Indonesian communications satellite for second day in a row
    September 8, 2025
  • SpaceX passes 2,000 Starlink satellites deployed in 2025 with Saturday launch
    September 6, 2025
  • SpaceX aces 500th Falcon booster landing amid sunrise Starlink mission
    September 4, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Wednesday sunrise Falcon 9 flight
    September 2, 2025
  • SpaceX’s Tuesday night Starlink features rare debut of a Falcon booster
    September 2, 2025
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