Riding Centaur
The Centaur upper stage performed to engine firings to deliver the NRO payload into the planned geosynchronous transfer orbit around Earth with an apogee of 20,241 nautical miles, a perigee of 146 nautical miles and inclination of 26.5 degrees. The satellite was released from the rocket just shy of 30 minutes after blastoff. Photo: Lockheed Martin TV/Spaceflight Now