September 21, 2026
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Breaking News
  • [ September 19, 2026 ] Russian Progress cargo ship arrives at International Space Station News
  • [ September 19, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Falcon 9
  • [ September 15, 2026 ] SpaceX launches national security payload for U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Falcon 9
  • [ September 15, 2026 ] Avio launches pair of climate monitoring European spacecraft to study plants, oceans and atmospheric changes News
  • [ September 13, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 700th Falcon rocket, carries final 3 O3b mPOWER satellites to orbit for SES Falcon 9

Photos: News media images of Atlas 5 launch

March 2, 2017 Justin Ray

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California played host to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that sent the NROL-79 payload into orbit Wednesday.

Photo Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

See earlier NROL-79 coverage.

Our Atlas archive.

  • Atlas 5
  • AV-068
  • Launch
  • National Reconnaissance Office
  • NROL-79
  • United Launch Alliance
  • Vandenberg Air Force Base

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SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.

Ariane 5

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Targeting a pair of satellite launches in June and July, ground teams will resume work at the Guiana Space Center in South America next week after a nearly two-month pause in Arianespace’s launch campaigns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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August 29, 2019 Stephen Clark

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News Headlines

  • Russian Progress cargo ship arrives at International Space Station
    September 19, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
    September 19, 2026
  • SpaceX launches national security payload for U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg
    September 15, 2026
  • Avio launches pair of climate monitoring European spacecraft to study plants, oceans and atmospheric changes
    September 15, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 700th Falcon rocket, carries final 3 O3b mPOWER satellites to orbit for SES
    September 13, 2026
  • SpaceX launches classified payload for the U.S. Space Force
    September 9, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 80th Starlink mission of 2026
    September 5, 2026
  • SpaceX launches Starlink mission from West Coast
    September 1, 2026
  • Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next ‘great observatory,’ launched
    August 29, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
    August 25, 2026
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