Stats: Atlas 5 history and backlog

A powerful Atlas 5 rocket fitted with a kerosene-burning main engine and five solid-fueled boosters lit up Florida’s Space Coast with Tuesday night’s blastoff carrying a U.S. Navy communications satellite into orbit. We present a sample of launch photos submitted by Spaceflight Now’s readers.

Launching a high-capacity satellite to beam the Internet into homes across rural America, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral on Sunday afternoon.

A collection of pad photos from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight to deploy the GPS 2F-10 spacecraft.