Photos: Gantry rolled back to reveal Atlas 5 rocket for launch

A Sunday afternoon rocket launch is planned for Cape Canaveral this weekend, and beachgoers should have good weather conditions to watch the commercial Atlas 5 rocket power skyward with an Internet access satellite.

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for billions of dollars in U.S. military rocket contracts, and will share the load in launching the Pentagon’s highest-priority national security space missions through 2027, officials announced Friday.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT) Saturday to deploy a new Global Positioning System satellite.