Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

The United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket fired away from Cape Canaveral at 1:51 p.m. EDT today to deploy a covert surveillance satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

The Atlas 5 was rolled off launch pad 41 to take shelter in the Vertical Integration Facility because of the threat from Tropical Depression Eta. United Launch Alliance has said it is delaying the launch until Nov. 13 at 5:13 p.m. EST (2213 GMT).

The heavy-lift version of the United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket will sell for half the price of today’s Delta 4-Heavy and a third of the price tag for the previous Titan 4, while offering a substantial increase in performance for nation’s largest defense spacecraft.