Orion abort test post-launch briefing (members only)

The U.S. Air Force has identified the launch of a next-generation GPS navigation satellite for the first in a series of competitive rocket procurements between United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, service officials announced Wednesday.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully flies to orbit Friday to deliver the U.S. Navy’s fifth Mobile User Objective System communications satellite.

United Launch Alliance crews at Cape Canaveral are finishing final preparations for an Atlas 5 rocket launch Saturday evening to dispatch three U.S. military satellites directly to an orbital perch more than 20,000 miles over the equator.