February 24, 2026
Spaceflight Now
  • Home
  • News Archive
  • Launch Schedule
  • Mission Reports
    • Antares Launcher
    • Ariane 5
    • Atlas 5
    • Delta 4
    • Falcon 9
    • Falcon Heavy
    • H-2A
    • Soyuz
    • Space Station
  • Members
    • Sign in
    • Become a member
    • Members Content
  • Live
  • Shop
Breaking News
  • [ February 21, 2026 ] SpaceX’s most-flown Falcon booster launches on record 33rd flight Falcon 9
  • [ February 21, 2026 ] NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April Artemis
  • [ February 20, 2026 ] Falcon 9 launches 25 Starlink satellites after weather delays Falcon 9
  • [ February 20, 2026 ] Moon mission fueling test concludes with no major problems Artemis
  • [ February 19, 2026 ] Independent report sharply criticizes NASA management, Boeing for troubled Starliner flight Mission Reports

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket powers NROL-52 payload to space

October 15, 2017 Justin Ray

The Atlas 5 rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral for its pre-dawn ascent to deploy the NROL-52 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Credit: United Launch Alliance

See earlier NROL-52 coverage.

  • Atlas 5
  • AV-075
  • Launch
  • National Reconnaissance Office
  • NROL-52
  • United Launch Alliance

Related Articles

Ariane 5

Ariane 5 launches India’s biggest satellite, South Korean weather observer

December 4, 2018 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket fired off a launch pad in French Guiana Tuesday with nearly 3 million pounds of thundering thrust, heading to orbit with India’s heaviest satellite designed to expand broadband coverage across the South Asian nation, and a South Korean weather satellite carrying an U.S.-built imager to track storms and cyclones across the Asia-Pacific.

Atlas 5

ULA releases ‘rocketcam’ video from Atlas 5 launch

August 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance has released views from cameras mounted aboard the company’s most recent Atlas 5 rocket launch showing the rocket’s blastoff from Cape Canaveral at dawn Aug. 8 with a U.S. Air Force communications satellite.

Ariane 5

Two communications satellites ride Ariane 5 rocket into geostationary transfer orbit

August 6, 2019 Stephen Clark

A U.S.-built commercial communications craft owned by Intelsat and a new node for Europe’s laser data relay satellite network rocketed into orbit Tuesday from Kourou, French Guiana, on top of an Ariane 5 rocket.

News Headlines

  • SpaceX’s most-flown Falcon booster launches on record 33rd flight
    February 21, 2026
  • NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April
    February 21, 2026
  • Falcon 9 launches 25 Starlink satellites after weather delays
    February 20, 2026
  • Moon mission fueling test concludes with no major problems
    February 20, 2026
  • Independent report sharply criticizes NASA management, Boeing for troubled Starliner flight
    February 19, 2026
  • SpaceX launches second Falcon 9 rocket to return to a landing in The Bahamas
    February 19, 2026
  • NASA to attempt second full fueling test of its Space Launch System rocket
    February 17, 2026
  • SpaceX launches predawn Starlink mission on President’s Day
    February 15, 2026
  • Replacement crew docks at space station, boosts crew back to seven
    February 15, 2026
  • SpaceX launches 600th Falcon 9 rocket to date with Starlink flight from Vandenberg
    February 14, 2026
  • Home
  • News Archive
  • Launch Schedule
  • Mission Reports
    • Antares Launcher
    • Ariane 5
    • Atlas 5
    • Delta 4
    • Falcon 9
    • Falcon Heavy
    • H-2A
    • Soyuz
    • Space Station
  • Members
    • Sign in
    • Become a member
    • Members Content
  • Live
  • Shop

© 1999-2026 Spaceflight Now Inc