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

An Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle debuting an upgraded higher-thrust second stage engine lifted off at 1126 GMT (7:26 a.m. EDT) Thursday with an S-band communications satellite.

Crews hoisted a covert spacecraft atop an Atlas 5 booster rocket this morning for its trek into an equatorial orbit next week.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket powered off its launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, on Feb. 20 with a Cygnus supply ship heading for the International Space Station.