Atlas 5/Cygnus NASA TV broadcast

The Atlas 5 rocket lifted the SBIRS GEO Flight 3 missile warning sentinel into orbit, advancing space technology for surveillance and security.

The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly.

Lending a helping hand to resume the stalled U.S. supply chain to the International Space Station, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send a commercial Cygnus cargo craft in pursuit of the outpost Thursday.