Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

“We had a terrific ride into space aboard the United Launch Alliance’s Delta 2 vehicle. They deposited us exactly where we wanted to be with with accuracy and precision,” said Kent Kellogg, NASA’s SMAP project manager.

The launch of a new U.S. weather satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California has been delayed at least four days to Nov. 14, allowing time for technicians to remove and replace a faulty battery on the payload’s Delta 2 rocket, United Launch Alliance said Monday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being readied for launch with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office early Sunday, the commercial launcher’s 33rd overall flight, and first dedicated to a U.S. government national security mission.