Atlas 5/Cygnus post-launch news conference

Seven weeks to the day after their launch was postponed by a massive wildfire and the aftermath, a commercial Atlas 5 rocket and Earth-imaging satellite are scheduled to fly on Sunday, Nov. 6 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A top secret cargo for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency soared into orbit from Cape Canaveral at the tip of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Friday night, successfully debuting a new solid-fueled booster design that ULA says are cheaper and easier to handle than previous strap-on motors.

Space station commander Peggy Whitson and astronaut Jack Fischer are set for a two-and-a-half hour spacewalk Tuesday, a quickly-planned excursion to replace a recently installed external computer that failed Saturday.