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

Steve Skladanek leads Lockheed Martin’s rocket sales force charged with pushing the Atlas 5 rocket, which has largely been on the sidelines of the commercial launch business in recent years, on the global satellite market.

Problems with a downrange tracking station kept Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher on the ground in New Zealand Friday, U.S. time, and the company ordered a two-day delay to resolve the issues and wait for improved weather. Rocket Lab pushed back the launch again to Tuesday because of unfavorable weather.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 189 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine at 10:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EST; 1830 GMT) today to launch the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imaging satellite for DigitalGlobe from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.