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Breaking News
  • [ June 7, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket booster on record-breaking 35th flight Falcon 9
  • [ June 6, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 2 Starshield satellites during Saturday night Starlink mission Falcon 9
  • [ June 5, 2026 ] NASA crew briefly shelters inside Dragon capsule as Russia addresses new space station leaks Mission Reports
  • [ June 4, 2026 ] NASA head urges new launcher for Blue Origin’s moon landers to meet Artemis mission deadlines Moon Base
  • [ June 3, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 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.

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Related Articles

Ariane 5

Arianespace opens busy year with successful Ariane 5 launch

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The first of up to 22 launches on Arianespace’s schedule in 2020 successfully delivered a commercial European broadband satellite and an Indian communications payload to orbit Thursday using a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket.

Atlas 5

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket receives its payload for Jan. 19 launch

January 19, 2017 Justin Ray

The third Space Base Infrared Systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, or SBIRS GEO Flight 3, was hoisted atop the Atlas 5 on Jan.12 to complete the pre-flight assembly of the 189-foot-tall rocket for launch.

Falcon 9

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

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SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with 60 Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT) Wednesday. The Falcon 9’s reusable first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

News Headlines

  • SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket booster on record-breaking 35th flight
    June 7, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 2 Starshield satellites during Saturday night Starlink mission
    June 6, 2026
  • NASA crew briefly shelters inside Dragon capsule as Russia addresses new space station leaks
    June 5, 2026
  • NASA head urges new launcher for Blue Origin’s moon landers to meet Artemis mission deadlines
    June 4, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
    June 3, 2026
  • Blue Origin vows to resume New Glenn flights by year’s end
    June 3, 2026
  • SpaceX launches sunrise Starlink mission following weather scrub
    June 3, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 50th Starlink mission of 2026
    May 30, 2026
  • ULA launches 29 Amazon Leo satellites on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    May 29, 2026
  • Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes during prelaunch testing at Cape Canaveral
    May 29, 2026
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