Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5

Near-perfect weather for launching a rocket into space is expected at Cape Canaveral on Saturday when an Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled to fly.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 194 feet tall and and weighing 950,000 pounds, unleashes 1.5 million pounds of thrust from its main engine and two side-mounted boosters at 8:37 a.m. EDT today to launch the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-61 satellite from Cape Canaveral.

A signals intercepter for the U.S. spy satellite agency was successfully launched into a high orbit over the top of the world by an Atlas 5 rocket on Saturday night.