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.

The 50th Atlas 5 rocket lifts off From Cape Canaveral carrying a GPS satellite.

Eric Boe, one of three astronauts assigned to the first piloted test flight of a Boeing CST-100 Starliner commercial crew ship later this year has been removed from the mission due to unspecified medical issues, NASA announced Tuesday. He will be replaced by veteran astronaut Mike Fincke.