Video: Atlas 5 launch with GOES-S viewed from KSC press site (members only)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket departs Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 10:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EST; 1830 GMT) to deliver the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imaging satellite into polar orbit for DigitalGlobe.

Near the end of a ground-shaking test firing of Northrop Grumman’s solid-propellant Castor 600 rocket motor — the first stage of a new booster being designed to launch spy satellites and other national security payloads — a major part of the rocket’s big nozzle appeared to break apart, littering the test site with shards of debris.

For its first mission of the year, SpaceX launched the Airbus-built Turksat 5A communications satellite to cover Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa with data relay and television broadcast services. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m. EST Thursday (0215 GMT Friday).