Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars

A computer-triggered abort halted the countdown of a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, pushing back the next mission in SpaceX’s launch surge until at least Monday.

The opening volley in the transformation of U.S. weather forecasting was mounted atop its ride to space today for the planned Nov. 19 launch that begins an $11 billion upgrade in the nation’s meteorology capability.

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California played host to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that sent the NROL-79 payload into orbit today.