Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

In a breath-taking display at daybreak Wednesday, an Atlas rocket powered an enormous U.S. Navy satellite into space to close the last remaining gap and give global reach to the military’s new mobile communications system.

An Atlas 5 rocket and a Starliner crew capsule stand at pad 41 in these images taken at sunset Dec. 18.

This is our comprehensive fact sheet previewing the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket deployment of the classified NROL-52 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.