Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5

The United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket lifts off with NASA’s SMAP observatory at 6:22 a.m. local time on Saturday, Jan. 31 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched another Cygnus cargo freighter for Orbital ATK Tuesday night, fulfilling the booster’s role of reestablishing America’s resupply link to the International Space Station.

Poised for its one and only satellite launch of the year, the National Reconnaissance Office will conduct a hush-hush flight Thursday using a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from California.