Photos: Launch boosts satellite for U.S. allies

With an international flair for collaboration, a military communications satellite jointly purchased by five allies was rocketed in space Saturday to further expand the U.S.-operated network that serves battlefield forces anywhere on Earth.

Skywatchers and early risers across Florida enjoyed dazzling views of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket climbing into space Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. military communications satellite.

The last two spacecraft in a four-satellite constellation of tropical cyclone research platforms took off late Thursday from New Zealand on a Rocket Lab Electron launcher, helping ensure NASA’s TROPICS mission is ready for observations in time for the peak of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.