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Breaking News
  • [ September 22, 2025 ] A geologist, a former SpaceX launch director and a commercial astronaut; meet NASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates News
  • [ September 22, 2025 ] NRO, SpaceX launch reconnaissance satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
  • [ September 20, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Sunday sunrise Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9
  • [ September 17, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
  • [ September 16, 2025 ] NASA, Northrop Grumman postpone Cygnus XL arrival to ISS following propulsion issue Mission Reports

Photos: Atlas 5 launches SBIRS GEO Flight 3

January 22, 2017 Justin Ray

Launching a highly sophisticated infrared surveillance satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral.

Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now

See earlier SBIRS GEO Flight 3 coverage.

Our Atlas archive.

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ULA, SpaceX split military launch contract awards

March 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force announced Tuesday that it awarded $384 million in contracts to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, giving each company two missions to launch military satellites in 2023.

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Video: Proton rocket returns to service with launch of EchoStar 21

June 8, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the EchoStar 21 communications satellite Thursday, the heaviest commercial payload ever flown aboard a Russian booster.

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Atlas 5 launches AEHF 5 as seen from Kennedy Space Center (members only)

August 8, 2019 Spaceflight Now

An Atlas 5 lifts off at dawn creating a spectacular sky show as it races toward orbit carrying the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF 5) communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force.

News Headlines

  • A geologist, a former SpaceX launch director and a commercial astronaut; meet NASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates
    September 22, 2025
  • NRO, SpaceX launch reconnaissance satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
    September 22, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Sunday sunrise Falcon 9 flight
    September 20, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    September 17, 2025
  • NASA, Northrop Grumman postpone Cygnus XL arrival to ISS following propulsion issue
    September 16, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from California following back-to-back weather scrubs
    September 16, 2025
  • Northrop Grumman’s 1st Cygnus XL spacecraft launches on cargo run to the space station
    September 15, 2025
  • Launch preview: SpaceX to launch new, improved Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL resupply ship to the space station
    September 14, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
    September 13, 2025
  • Department of the Air Force, FAA clear SpaceX to launch up to 120 Falcon 9 rockets annually from Cape Canaveral
    September 12, 2025
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