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

A reconnaissance satellite built in secrecy in France for the Moroccan government launched Tuesday on top of a Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

Rocket Lab announced Saturday it will hold off launching an Electron rocket on an orbital test flight until early 2018 as officials face the end of a 10-day pre-approved launch window, after a series of scrubs to ensure the booster is ready for liftoff and wait for ideal weather conditions.

Resembling a cocooned insect with antennas and appendages tucked snuggly to its body for launch, NASA’s latest communications relay hub will be shot into space Friday to blossom in geosynchronous orbit for routing signals to and from the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and three dozen science observatories.