Watch the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon arrive at the launch pad (members only)

A new infrared reconnaissance satellite for one of the United States’ highest priority space programs — making early detection of enemy missile launches — was successfully delivered into orbit Friday by an Atlas 5 rocket.

Follow the major events of the Atlas 5 rocket’s launch with the Solar Orbiter spacecraft with this mission timeline.

SpaceX’s 45th Starlink mission of the year saw the company add another 24 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:46 p.m. PDT (10:46 p.m. EDT / 0246 UTC).