Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch

The forecast of stormy weather prevented rollback of the mobile service gantry and the continuation of the countdown at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket.

A dramatic automatic abort 7.5 seconds before the planned liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket Saturday night kept the towering launcher on the pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with a top secret spy payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was rolled to the pad today at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 in preparation for Friday’s liftoff. The flight will deliver the Mobile User Objective System satellite No. 5 into orbit, fulfilling a five-launch, four-year effort to assemble the military’s secure smartphone mobile communications network. Launch is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).