Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket stands atop Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in readiness for the NROL-52 deployment mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The top secret intelligence-gathering payload for the U.S. government set for launch Tuesday on top of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket is likely the next in a line of sensitive eavesdropping satellites designed to intercept radio signals and other communications traffic from adversaries around the world.

Amazon has selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket for nine missions from Cape Canaveral to deploy satellites for the Kuiper internet constellation, a fleet designed to eventually number more than 3,200 spacecraft, the companies announced Monday.