Cygnus OA-6: What’s onboard?

Sky-watchers with a passion for looking up and tracking satellites with remarkable precision have made quick work of locating the spacecraft launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket on Thursday.

The launch from Cape Canaveral of a top secret spy satellite for the U.S. government was aborted at the last moment early Saturday as its United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket ignited three main engines, a dramatic cutoff of the countdown that will delay the mission by at least one week.

The constellation-building Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance successfully deployed the fifth communications spacecraft for the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System today to form a new rugged smartphone network for the U.S. military.