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

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand is set for no earlier than June 27 with a bundle of spacecraft including a commercial Earth-observing microsatellite for BlackSky, two CubeSats for U.S. Special Operations Command, a pair of tiny prototype data relay nodes for Swarm Technologies, a student-built payload from Australia, and a satellite whose identity and owner remain a secret.

United Launch Alliance announced Monday that the company will assume responsibility for commercial marketing and sales for Atlas 5 rocket missions, taking over for a Lockheed Martin division that previously sold Atlas 5 launch services on the commercial market.

A sophisticated new Japanese weather satellite will ride an H-2A rocket into orbit Wednesday to start a 15-year mission tracking cyclones and helping meteorologists predict storm movements across the Asia-Pacific and Australia.