A gallery of beautiful photos taken by cameras at the launch pad is posted here.

An international telecommunications satellite that will bridge the Atlantic with a broad reach to four continents was successfully hauled into orbit today aboard an Atlas 5 rocket that completed its last purely commercial launch for the foreseeable future.

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"ULA congratulates our commercial space partners Intelsat, Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, and Space Systems/Loral on their mission success," said Mark Wilkins, ULA vice president of the Atlas product line. "ULA also appreciates the dedicated and professional support from the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center and 45th Space Wing in the success of today's launch. With this launch, nine of the Atlas 5's 19 launches since 2002 have been commercial missions, demonstrating the outstanding flexibility of the Atlas 5 team to support both government and commercial customers."

"I'm thrilled the launch went so well and the mission is a success," said 2nd Lt. Drew Peterson of the Air Force's 5th Space Launch Squadron. "I'd like to thank the entire team for this great achievement."

T+plus 118 minutes, 5 seconds. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION! The Centaur upper stage has deployed the Intelsat 14 payload into orbit follow tonight's launch from Cape Canaveral.

Global satellite operator Intelsat will use the new spacecraft to provide television, data and other services to North and South America, Africa and Europe from a geostationary orbital slot of 45 degrees West longitude.

The 12,375-pound craft was built by Space Systems/Loral and features 40 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders. It was designed to last 15 years for global network operator Intelsat.

Controllers will to establish contact with the new satellite and begin sending commands via a South African ground station. The twin solar array wings will be unfurled later this morning.

A series of orbit raising maneuvers will occur over the next few days, followed by the antenna deployments and the start of in-orbit testing by month's end.

T+plus 117 minutes, 10 seconds. Centaur is in the spacecraft deploy position.

T+plus 116 minutes. Centaur is maneuvering itself to the proper orientation for releasing the payload.

T+plus 114 minutes, 58 seconds. MECO 2. Main engine cutoff confirmed. Centaur has completed its second burn.

T+plus 114 minutes. The engine is burning well. This is a planned 93-second firing by the Centaur's single Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 engine.

T+plus 113 minutes, 23 seconds. Ignition and full thrust! The Centaur's single RL10 engine has re-ignited to accelerate the Intelsat 14 payload into the planned deployment orbit.

T+plus 111 minutes. Centaur has reached the desired orientation for the upcoming burn.

T+plus 110 minutes. The Centaur is targeting a geosynchronous transfer orbit stretching from 3,743 statute miles at its lowest point to 23,830 statute miles at its highest and inclined 22.48 degrees to the equator.

T+plus 106 minutes, 40 seconds. The rocket is performing its turn to the proper position for the next engine firing. All vehicle parameters still reported normal.

T+plus 100 minutes. The vehicle is completing the final roll reversal as planned as it flies over the Indian Ocean.

T+plus 85 minutes. Centaur is operating well with good battery voltages and tank pressures. Telemetry from the rocket is being routed back to the Cape via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

T+plus 75 minutes. This launch came 10 years to the very night of Spaceflight Now's debut on the Internet with coverage of its first rocket flight -- an Atlas 2A vehicle with the Navy's UHF F10 communications satellite.

T+plus 65 minutes. The upper stage continues in its thermal conditioning roll while quietly coasting in the parking orbit.

T+plus 50 minutes. Bus and battery voltages, tank pressures and other system measurements look good as the rocket flies over the southeastern Indian Ocean.

T+plus 35 minutes. The vehicle is soaring above Africa and Madagascar as it climbs away from the planet.

T+plus 30 minutes. Deployment of the Intelsat 14 spacecraft to complete tonight's launch sequence is expected at 3:53 a.m. EST.

T+plus 24 minutes. Centaur's onboard systems are stable in this coast period gets underway.

T+plus 20 minutes. The parking orbit parameters appear right on target.

T+plus 18 minutes, 33 seconds. MECO 1. Centaur's main engine has shut down following its first burn today, achieving a preliminary orbit around Earth. The rocket will coast in this orbit for about 95 minutes before the RL10 engine re-ignites.

T+plus 17 minutes, 30 seconds. Everything looking normal with one minute to go in this burn.

T+plus 16 minutes. Centaur systems remain in good shape.

T+plus 15 minutes, 10 seconds. Vehicle acceleration is smooth at 0.69 g's.

T+plus 14 minutes, 30 seconds. About four minutes are left in this burn of Centaur.

T+plus 14 minutes. RL10 engine parameters still look good.

T+plus 13 minutes, 5 seconds. Orbital velocity has been achieved.

T+plus 12 minutes, 40 seconds. Centaur remains on course as it passes the 17,000 mph mark.

T+plus 11 minutes, 30 seconds. The rocket is 136 miles in altitude, some 1,925 miles downrange and traveling at 16,300 mph.

T+plus 11 minutes. The rocket is heading for a parking orbit with a targeted low point of 109 statute miles, a high point of 16,158 statute miles and inclination of 25 degrees.

T+plus 10 minutes. The RL10 continues to perform well, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

T+plus 9 minutes, 30 seconds. Centaur is 142 miles in altitude, some 1,400 miles downrange.

T+plus 8 minutes. All systems reported stable as the Centaur fires to reach an initial Earth orbit.

T+plus 7 minutes, 50 seconds. Now 136 miles in altitude, 1,051 miles downrange from the launch pad.

T+plus 7 minutes, 5 seconds. The rocket is performing a planned 90-degree roll to improve the link with NASA's orbiting Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

T+plus 6 minutes, 5 seconds. Centaur engine readings look good as this burn continues. The rocket is tracking right down the planned track.

T+plus 4 minutes, 59 seconds. The two-halves of the Atlas 5 rocket nose cone encapsulating the spacecraft have separated.

T+plus 4 minutes, 50 seconds. Centaur has ignited! The RL10 engine is up and running at full thrust for its first of two planned firings tonight.

T+plus 4 minutes, 38 seconds. The Atlas 5's Common Core Booster first stage has been jettisoned, and the Centaur upper stage's liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems are being readied for engine start.

T+plus 4 minutes, 31 seconds. BECO. Booster Engine Cutoff is confirmed as the RD-180 powerplant on the first stage completes its burn. Standing by to fire the retro thrusters and separate the spent stage.

T+plus 4 minutes, 15 seconds. Good engine throttle profile reported.

T+plus 3 minutes, 55 seconds. The RD-180 main engine continues to fire, burning a mixture of highly refined kerosene and liquid oxygen.

T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The rocket is 43 miles in altitude, some 138 miles downrange and traveling at 7,900 mph.

T+plus 3 minutes. RD-180 has throttled down to 95 percent.

T+plus 2 minutes, 45 seconds. Reaction control system has been activated.

T+plus 2 minutes, 12 seconds. Boosters one, two and then three have jettisoned. The Aerojet-made solid rocket motors have successfully separated from the Atlas 5, having completed their job of adding a powerful kick at liftoff.

T+plus 1 minute, 40 seconds. The RD-180 is revving back to full throttle.

T+plus 93 seconds. Solid rocket booster burnout has occurred. But the spent motors will remain attached to the first stage for about 40 seconds, until the Atlas 5 reaches a point where the airborne dynamic pressure reduces to an allowable level for a safe jettison.

T+plus 60 seconds. One minute into the ascent. It will take an hour and 58 minutes for the two-stage rocket to deploy the satellite into the desired orbit.

T+plus 45 seconds. Throttling down the main engine to 64 percent as planned.

T+plus 30 seconds. The Atlas 5 is lighting up the nighttime sky with its RD-180 engine and three solid rocket boosters.

T+plus 15 seconds. The vehicle is rapidly thundering away from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 and beginning to head eastward for the trek downrange.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket and the Intelsat 14 communications satellite, an international broadcaster spanning both sides of the Atlantic.

T-minus 20 seconds. "Go Atlas" and "Go Centaur" was just called by launch team during a final status check.

T-minus 40 seconds. Centaur's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks are stable at flight pressures.

T-minus 1 minute. Now 60 seconds from launch.

T-minus 90 seconds. The safety system has been armed.

T-minus 1 minute, 50 seconds. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant topping to the Centaur upper stage is being secured.

T-minus 1 minute, 55 seconds. The launch sequencer has been commanded to start.

T-minus 2 minutes. The Atlas first stage and Centaur upper stage are now switching from ground power to internal batteries.

T-minus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The first stage RP-1 kerosene fuel tank and the liquid oxygen have stepped up to proper flight pressure levels.

T-minus 3 minutes. The Atlas first stage liquid oxygen replenishment is being secured so the tank can be pressurized for launch.

T-minus 3 minutes. The Atlas first stage liquid oxygen replenishment is being secured so the tank can be pressurized for launch.

T-minus 3 minutes, 50 seconds. The ground pyrotechnics have been enabled.

T-minus 4 minutes and counting. Clocks have resumed for the final minutes of tonight's countdown to launch the Atlas 5 rocket carrying the Intelsat 14 payload. Liftoff is set to occur at 1:55 a.m. EST.

Countdown clocks will resume in one minute.

The ULA launch director has given his "go" for today's liftoff.

Polling of the team by Atlas launch conductor just occurred. All systems are reported "go" to continue with the countdown for liftoff at 1:55 a.m. EST.

The latest flight profile has been deemed good to go! The program has been loaded into the Atlas 5 rocket's guidance system for liftoff at 1:55 a.m. EST.

The teams working hard to get a good flight profile based on the wind data hopes to have a design ready by 1:40 a.m. EST. If that one is out limits like previous runs tonight, one last profile would be finished at 2:05 a.m. EST, according to information provided by ULA.

Aside from this wind balloon data hold up, the other launch weather rules remain "go" for liftoff. The weather had been violating of the anvil cloud rule for much of the night until clearing late in the countdown. Then a short time later, the news of the upper level wind and balloon situation was announced by ULA.

Additional balloon data is being gathered at Cape Canaveral for relay to facilities in Denver where engineers develop a flight profile based upon the wind conditions the rocket will see during ascent. That profile program is then loaded into the Atlas' guidance system.

"So far each of the attempts to build a flight profile have not been able to meet the requirements for launch," a ULA spokesman says.

NEW LAUNCH TIME. Liftoff is being delayed to 1:55 a.m. EST.

The latest weather balloon did meet requirements in the region between 20,000 and 25,000 feet. So the team is waiting for more data from additional balloons being released to measure speeds and directions of the winds aloft.

NEW LAUNCH TIME. Liftoff is being delayed to 1:35 a.m. EST as launch team continues to assess the wind balloon data.

The earlier weather balloon data was not satisfying requirements for launch, ULA says.

The launch team readiness poll is planned for 1:08 a.m., leading to resuming the countdown at 1:11 a.m. and liftoff of the Atlas 5 rocket at 1:15 a.m. EST.

The launch team continues its work to program the rocket's guidance computer based on the latest weather balloon data, a spokesman reports.

The 25-minute delay was requested to evaluate the upper level winds and the flight profile, a spokesman says.

NEW LAUNCH TIME. Liftoff is being pushed back to 1:15 a.m. EST.

Now 10 minutes away from the scheduled launch time.

Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

• The 601st launch for Atlas program since 1957
• The 315th Atlas to occur from Cape Canaveral
• The 19th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
• The 17th Atlas 5 to occur from the Cape
• The 11th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
• The 9th commercial launch for the Atlas 5 family
• The 5th Atlas launch of 2009
• The 2nd Atlas 5 to fly in the 431 configuration
• The 31st Intelsat spacecraft to fly on Atlas since 1971
• The 44th satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat

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T-minus 4 minutes and holding. The countdown has entered the planned 10-minute hold to give the launch team a chance to review all systems before pressing ahead with liftoff. Today's launch opportunity stretches from 12:50 to 2:20 a.m. EST.

The first stage liquid oxygen tank and Centaur's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks are reported at flight level.

T-minus 5 minutes. Standing by to go into the final built-in hold.

Weather conditions are looking favorable for the opening of the launch window at 12:50 a.m. EST, forecasters say.

The Intelsat 14 spacecraft nestled inside the nose of the Atlas 5 rocket is switching to internal power for launch.

The fuel-fill sequence for the first stage main engine is starting.

Thirty minutes from liftoff. The countdown clocks are heading to the T-minus 4 minute mark where a planned 10-minute hold will occur. Launch of Atlas 5 remains scheduled for 12:50 a.m. EST, if the weather permits.

Weather is now "go" for launch!

Today's launch of the Atlas 5 rocket will be the second flight of the vehicle's 431 configuration, which is distinguished by the combination of a four-meter payload fairing, three solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. The first use of this version occurred in March 2005 with the launch of the Inmarsat 4-F1 mobile communications satellite.

Depending on a payload's weight, mission planners add strap-on solid boosters to the Atlas 5 to incrementally increase the amount of cargo the rocket can carry.

For the Atlas 5's 400-series, up to three solids can be used. The 500-series is capable of flying with as many as five, such as the launch of NASA's New Horizons space probe bound for Pluto.

The Russian RD-180 first stage main engine can accomplish the entire job of steering the Atlas 5 during launch, thus the solid boosters feature simple, fixed nozzles.

Each Aerojet-built SRB stands 67 feet tall, has a diameter of just over five feet and weighs about 100,000 pounds at launch. The slender white rockets have a lightweight graphite epoxy casing with an erosion-resistant insulation. The solid fuel is high-performance class 1.3 HTPB propellant.

Atop the booster is an aerodynamically-shaped graphite epoxy nose fairing. Each motor has forward and aft attachment structures to the Atlas 5's first stage. The motor nozzle is carbon-phenolic.

The motor burns for 90 seconds, producing a maximum thrust of approximately 400,000 pounds and an average around 250,000 pounds.

We're trying an experimental test tonight with live streaming video available on your iPhone. Check it out!

The launch team is going through normal post-fueling valve and system checks.

Fast-filling of the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been completed. Topping mode is now underway.

The liquid hydrogen tank in the Centaur upper stage just reached the 97 percent level. Topping is now beginning.

The first stage liquid oxygen tank is 90 percent full now.

A current check of the weather shows conditions remain "no go" for launch due to the violation of the attached anvil cloud rule. The odds of weather cooperating during the 90-minute launch window is 40 percent.

The Centaur liquid hydrogen tank is half loaded so far. The cryogenic propellant will be consumed with liquid oxygen by the stage's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-made RL10 engine.

Some 80 percent of the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been loaded.

Now 60 minutes from liftoff. Fueling of the Atlas rocket with cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is proceeding as planned for a liftoff at 12:50 a.m. EST.

If you are heading out to Titusville or the beach to watch the launch, sign up for our Twitter feed to get occasional countdown updates on your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

Centaur's liquid hydrogen tank is 20 percent full.

The first stage liquid oxygen tank is 60 percent full.

Chilldown of the liquid hydrogen system has been accomplished. The launch team has received the "go" to begin filling the Centaur upper stage with the supercold fuel.

The Centaur engine chilldown sequence is being initiated.

First stage liquid oxygen tank is about a third full thus far. Chilled to Minus-298 degrees F, the liquid oxygen will be used with RP-1 kerosene by the RD-180 main engine on the first stage during the initial four-and-a-quarter minutes of flight today. The 25,000 gallons of RP-1 were loaded into the rocket earlier.

Upper stage liquid oxygen has reached flight level.

Now 90 minutes from liftoff. There haven't been any reports from the launch team of technical troubles. Weather is the main concern in the countdown.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank reached the 95 percent level. The topping off process is starting now.

The first stage liquid oxygen loading is switching from slow-fill to fast-fill mode.

The chilldown conditioning of liquid hydrogen propellant lines at Complex 41 is starting to prepare the plumbing for transferring the Minus-423 degree F fuel into the rocket. The Centaur holds about 13,000 gallons of the cryogenic propellant.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is 75 percent full now.

The chilldown conditioning of the systems for the first stage liquid oxygen tank have been completed. And a "go" has been given to begin pumping supercold liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5's first stage.

The Common Core Booster stage's liquid oxygen tank is the largest tank to be filled today. It holds about 50,000 gallons of cryogenic oxidizer for the RD-180 main engine.

Half of the Centaur liquid oxygen tank has been filled so far.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is nearing one-third full.

Filling of the Centaur upper stage with about 4,300 gallons of liquid oxygen has begun at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 following the thermal conditioning of the transfer pipes.

The liquid oxygen -- chilled to Minus-298 degrees F -- will be consumed during the launch by the Centaur's single RL10 engine along with liquid hydrogen to be pumped into the stage a little later in the countdown. The Centaur will perform a pair of firings today to send the Intelsat 14 payload on its way.

The Centaur liquid oxygen pad storage area has been prepped. The next step is conditioning the transfer lines, which is now beginning to prepare the plumbing for flowing the cryogenic oxidizer.

T-minus 120 minutes and counting! The launch countdown is continuing on schedule for tonight's flight of the Atlas 5 rocket with the Intelsat 14 spacecraft aboard.

Clocks have one more built-in hold planned at T-minus 4 minutes. That pause will last 10 minutes during which time the final "go" for launch will be given. All remains targeted for liftoff at 12:50 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.

In the next couple of minutes, chilldown thermal conditioning of the mobile launch platform upon which the rocket stands will begin. This is meant to ease the shock on equipment when supercold cryogenic propellants start flowing into the rocket.

All console operators in the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center reported a "ready" status during the pre-fueling poll just completed by the launch conductor. The ULA launch director voiced his approval as well. Loading of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the Atlas 5 rocket will be getting underway a short time from now. Liftoff remains targeted for 12:50 a.m. EST.

Atlas launch conductor is briefing his team on procedures before entering into the final two hours of the countdown. A readiness check of the team members is next.

We're trying an experimental test tonight with live streaming video available on your iPhone. Check it out!

A reminder that if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive countdown updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text messages on your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

T-minus 2 hours and holding. The countdown has just entered the first of two planned holds over the course of the night that will lead to the 12:50 a.m. EST launch of the Atlas-Centaur rocket. This initial pause lasts 30 minutes, giving the team some margin in the countdown timeline to deal with technical issues or any work that is running behind. The final hold is scheduled to occur at T-minus 4 minutes and will last for 10 minutes.

Workers have cleared the Complex 41 pad and the blast danger area in advance of this afternoon's propellant loading and launch of the Atlas 5 rocket.

The hold-fire checks have been performed to ensure safety officers have the capability of halting the countdown if a problem occurs.

Meanwhile, the official clearing of personnel from the launch pad for rest of the countdown has begun.

And a short while, the the guidance system testing was reported complete.

The latest check of the weather shows current conditions are "no go" due to anvil clouds streaming across Central Florida. Meteorologists say they expect periods when the weather rules are violated and other times when there will be acceptable holes to fly through tonight.

The launch window's outlook includes scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, broken decks at 10,000 and 25,000 feet, isolated showers in the area, good visibility, southerly winds of 14 to 18 knots and a temperature of 72 to 73 degrees F.

Overall, there remains a 40 percent chance of launching or 60 percent chance of weather prohibiting liftoff.

An Atlas 5 rocket is being readied for its late-night launch to deploy an international telecommunications satellite that will span the Atlantic and serve four continents.

Mounted atop the launcher is Intelsat 14, a spacecraft headed for geostationary orbit to relay television, data and other services to North and South America, Africa and Europe.

The 12,375-pound satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral and features 40 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders. It was designed to last 15 years for global network operator Intelsat.

Tonight's launch window extends from 12:50 to 2:20 a.m. EST.

The RD-180 engine will ignite at T-minus 2.7 seconds, shooting a giant cloud of steam from the pad's main exhaust duct while undergoing a check to ensure its vital signs are healthy. The three strap-on solid rocket boosters are lit at T+plus 0.8 seconds, leading to liftoff of the 19-story Atlas vehicle at T+plus 1.1 seconds.

The Aerojet-made solid boosters will burn for about 90 seconds to assist the RD-180 in propelling the rocket skyward. The SRB casings remain attached to the first stage for another 40 seconds until the rocket reaches a suitable region of flight for jettison.

After the spent boosters are shed, the kerosene-fueled first stage will continue to fire until T+plus 4 minutes, 27 seconds. The bronze stage separates about six seconds later, leaving the hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage to ignite for a burn lasting nearly 14 minutes that will inject itself and Intelsat 14 into a preliminary orbit with a low point of 109 statute miles, a high point of 16,158 statute miles and inclination of 25 degrees.

Centaur completes its first burn over the central Atlantic Ocean and enters a 95-minute coast over Africa, Madagascar and the southern Indian Ocean. The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 cryogenic engine then restarts for a 93-second firing to propel the Intelsat spacecraft into the targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit stretching from 3,743 statute miles at its lowest point to 23,830 statute miles at its highest and inclined 22.48 degrees to the equator.

Release of the payload from the rocket to complete the launch is expected at T+plus 1 hour and 58 minutes.

The satellite will maneuver itself into a circular geostationary orbit, eventually matching Earth's rotation and appearing fixed over the equator at 45 degrees West longitude.

The craft is slated to replace the Intelsat 1R satellite currently operating in that orbital slot. It was launched aboard an European Ariane 5 rocket nine years ago this month.

The countdown clocks are starting to tick for tonight's commercial flight of the Atlas 5 rocket to deliver the Intelsat 14 spacecraft into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The launch team is beginning to power up the rocket and commence standard pre-flight tests. Over the next few hours, final preps for the Centaur's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen systems will be performed, along with a test of the rocket's guidance system and the first stage propulsion and hydraulic preps, internal battery checks and testing of the C-band system used to track the rocket as it flies downrange, plus a test of the S-band telemetry relay system. The Complex 41 site will be cleared of all personnel at 9:55 p.m.

A planned half-hour hold begins at 10:10 p.m. when the count reaches T-minus 120 minutes. Near the end of the hold, the team will be polled at 10:37 p.m. to verify all is in readiness to start fueling the rocket for launch.

Supercold liquid oxygen begins flowing into the Centaur upper stage around 10:57 p.m., followed by the first stage filling around 11:10 p.m. Liquid hydrogen fuel loading for Centaur will be completed a short time later.

A final hold is scheduled at the T-minus 4 minute mark starting at 12:36 a.m. That 10-minute pause will give everyone a chance to finish any late work and assess the status of the rocket, payloads, Range and weather before proceeding into the last moments of the countdown for liftoff at 12:50 a.m. EST.

The odds of having acceptable weather during tonight's 90-minute launch window have decreased to 40 percent. The previous forecasts had indicated a 60 percent chance of good conditions.

The Atlas rocket team continues to target a 12:50 a.m. EST liftoff tonight.

The launch will come 10 years to the very night of Spaceflight Now's debut on the Internet with coverage of its first rocket flight -- an Atlas 2A vehicle with the Navy's UHF F10 communications satellite.

Check out the latest picture gallery from photographer Pat Corkery showing Saturday morning's rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket and beautiful nighttime shots of the vehicle on the launch pad.

The Atlas 5 rocket returned to its launching pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 this morning, primed for a second shot at hauling the Intelsat 14 commercial telecommunications satellite into orbit on Sunday night.

An initial countdown attempt a week ago was scrubbed when a technical problem arose that engineers could not immediately resolve. The rocket had to be rolled back to its assembly building a stone's throw from the pad for workers to remedy the issue.

"The cause of last week's scrub of the Atlas 5 Intelsat 14 launch was a short duration power fluctuation within an Ordnance Remote Control Assembly (ORCA) that occurred approximately one hour before the scheduled liftoff," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

"Although the fault posed little risk to the flight, it was decided to remove and replace the unit to preserve vehicle redundancy."

Officials arranged the new launch date and cleared the repaired vehicle for the second try.

"The nature of the problem was determined first by simulating it in the Atlas System Integration Lab (SIL) in Denver, and then by conducting tests on the actual ORCA after it had been removed and returned to the manufacturer," Lockheed Martin said.

Sunday night's countdown will begin at 5:50 p.m. EST, leading to the launch window that opens after midnight at 12:50 a.m. and extends to 2:20 a.m. EST.

The most recent weather forecast showed a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the window.

"On launch day (Sunday night), a prefrontal shower or thunderstorm is possible during the early part of the count. The front is expected to pass through the area late Sunday. The primary concerns for launch day are cumulus cloud rule and thick cloud rule," Air Force meteorologists reported Friday.

Launch of the Atlas 5 rocket has been rescheduled for Sunday night/Monday morning, November 23. The 90-minute launch window will extend from 12:50 to 2:20 a.m. EST (0550-0720 GMT).

"A previous launch attempt on November 14 was scrubbed so that a temporary power interruption in an electronics component on the booster could be understood and rectified," Lockheed Martin said in a statement today announcing the new target date.

The early forecast issued this morning by Air Force meteorologists calls for a 40 percent chance of clouds and disturbed weather prohibiting launch.

"The peninsula remains under high pressure and fair weather through Friday with a developing low pressure system in the Western Gulf of Mexico. The low pressure system is expected to be in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico late Saturday and over North Florida on Sunday. A trailing cold front is over Central Florida on Sunday evening through Monday morning," forecasters say.

"For MLP roll (Saturday), fair weather with light winds in advance of the low pressure and frontal boundary are expected. On launch day (Sunday night), pre-frontal showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected during the early part of the count. The front is expected to pass through Central Florida late Sunday into early Monday with improving conditions behind the front.

"The primary concerns for launch day are cumulus clouds, thick clouds and disturbed weather."

The launch window's outlook includes scattered clouds at 2,500 feet, broken decks at 8,000 and 25,000 feet, showers and isolated thunderstorms, good visibility, westerly winds of 12 to 16 knots and a temperature of 68 to 70 degrees F.

Weather conditions improve for the backup launch opportunity 24 hours later. The odds are 80 percent favorable for a launch then.

"In the event of a 24-hour delay, the front is expected to be south of the area with improving conditions. The primary concern for a 24-hour delay is post frontal thick clouds," forecasters say.

The Atlas 5 rocket traveled back to the assembly hangar today so workers can resolve the technical trouble that postponed Friday night's commercial satellite launch.

It's just the third time in 17 Cape missions than an Atlas 5 has been rolled back from the launch pad to the 30-story Vertical Integration Facility for repairs in the wake of a scrub.

The Atlas 5 program at Cape Canaveral uses a "clean-pad" concept with minimal infrastructure and no service gantry at the launch pad. Instead, stacking of the rocket stages and pre-flight work is accomplished the VIF. A mobile launch platform transports the Atlas between the hangar and the pad.

Friday's scrub occurred when the launch team saw an ordnance remote control assembly on the rocket experience an uncommanded and unexpected 50-millisecond power cycle. Troubleshooting and lab simulations were unable to clear the issue during the countdown, leading to mission managers calling a scrub.

United Launch Alliance said the electronics box is used to route signals for critical events during ascent such as staging. The rocket-maker indicated the suspect component would be removed for further analysis.

A new date has not been established. ULA says more details could be known on Tuesday.

Here's the official statement from United Launch Alliance on tonight's scrub:

"The launch of the Intelsat 14 spacecraft aboard an Atlas 5 was scrubbed just after midnight Friday night so that engineers can troubleshoot a temporary power interruption in an electronics component used to control flight events on the Atlas booster. The launch is being conducted for Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services by United Launch Alliance. The launch team executed the standard detanking procedure and will return the vehicle to the Vertical Integration Facility to remove the electronics box for further investigation. The spacecraft is secure. A new launch date has not been established at this time."

The Atlas rocket will have to be rolled from its launch pad back to the Vertical Integration Facility in light of this technical issue. That means there would be no launch attempt made tomorrow night, clearing the way for the Eastern Range to transition over to space shuttle support for Monday's planned liftoff of Atlantis.

Exactly how long the Atlas delay will last is not yet known.

The issue is with the ordnance remote control assembly, or ORCA, that experienced a momentary power dropout during the countdown for unknown reasons. Troubleshooting and testing were unable to pinpoint the cause, forcing mission managers to scrub tonight's countdown, ULA officials say.

The ORCA is a pyrotechnic initiation subsystem that provides multiple electronic outputs throughout the launch vehicle, according to the manufacturer.

To recap, the launch team had been working a technical issue and running lab tests. But in the end, officials were unable to determine the exact cause of the glitch and decided that launch would have to be postponed. A specific explanation of the problem is expected to be provided by United Launch Alliance shortly.

It is unclear if another launch attempt will be possible tomorrow night or if the Atlas will be delayed until after the planned Monday liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Draining of propellants from the rocket has begun.

SCRUB! Engineers are unable to resolve the technical issue that had cropped up in the countdown and officials have decided to postpone the launch for tonight.

A new target launch date has not yet been announced.

The Intelsat 14 spacecraft nestled inside the nose of the Atlas 5 rocket is switching to internal power for launch.

Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

• The 601st launch for Atlas program since 1957
• The 315th Atlas to occur from Cape Canaveral
• The 19th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
• The 17th Atlas 5 to occur from the Cape
• The 11th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
• The 9th commercial launch for the Atlas 5 family
• The 5th Atlas launch of 2009
• The 2nd Atlas 5 to fly in the 431 configuration
• The 31st Intelsat spacecraft to fly on Atlas since 1971
• The 44th satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat

Engineers are working through a technical issue that has the potential of holding up some pre-launch activities over the next several minutes.

Forty minutes from liftoff. The countdown clocks are heading to the T-minus 4 minute mark where a planned 10-minute hold will occur. Launch of Atlas 5 remains scheduled for 12:48 a.m. EST.

We're trying an experimental test tonight with live streaming video available on your iPhone. Check it out!

The launch team is going through normal post-fueling valve and system checks.

Fast-filling of the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been completed. Topping mode is now underway.

The liquid hydrogen tank in the Centaur upper stage just reached the 97 percent level. Topping is now beginning.

The first stage liquid oxygen tank is 90 percent full now.

The Centaur liquid hydrogen tank is 80 percent loaded so far. The cryogenic propellant will be consumed with liquid oxygen by the stage's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-made RL10 engine.

Now 60 minutes from liftoff. Fueling of the Atlas rocket with cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is proceeding as planned for a liftoff at 12:48 a.m. EST.

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About three-quarters of the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been loaded.

Centaur's liquid hydrogen tank is 20 percent full.

Chilldown of the liquid hydrogen system has been accomplished. The launch team has received the "go" to begin filling the Centaur upper stage with the supercold fuel.

The first stage liquid oxygen tank is 50 percent full.

The Centaur engine chilldown sequence is being initiated.

First stage liquid oxygen tank is passing the 30 percent mark. Chilled to Minus-298 degrees F, the liquid oxygen will be used with RP-1 kerosene by the RD-180 main engine on the first stage during the initial four-and-a-quarter minutes of flight today. The 25,000 gallons of RP-1 were loaded into the rocket earlier.

Upper stage liquid oxygen has reached flight level.

Now 90 minutes from liftoff.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank reached the 95 percent level. The topping off process is starting now.

The first stage liquid oxygen loading is switching from slow-fill to fast-fill mode.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is 80 percent full now.

The chilldown conditioning of liquid hydrogen propellant lines at Complex 41 is starting to prepare the plumbing for transferring the Minus-423 degree F fuel into the rocket. The Centaur holds about 13,000 gallons of the cryogenic propellant.

The chilldown conditioning of the systems for the first stage liquid oxygen tank have been completed. And a "go" has been given to begin pumping supercold liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5's first stage.

The Common Core Booster stage's liquid oxygen tank is the largest tank to be filled today. It holds about 50,000 gallons of cryogenic oxidizer for the RD-180 main engine.

Half of the Centaur liquid oxygen tank has been filled so far.

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank has reached the 20 percent level.

Filling of the Centaur upper stage with about 4,300 gallons of liquid oxygen has begun at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 following the thermal conditioning of the transfer pipes.

The liquid oxygen -- chilled to Minus-298 degrees F -- will be consumed during the launch by the Centaur's single RL10 engine along with liquid hydrogen to be pumped into the stage a little later in the countdown. The Centaur will perform a pair of firings today to send the Intelsat 14 payload on its way.

The Centaur liquid oxygen pad storage area has been prepped. The next step is conditioning the transfer lines, which is now beginning to prepare the plumbing for flowing the cryogenic oxidizer.

T-minus 120 minutes and counting! The launch countdown is continuing on schedule for tonight's flight of the Atlas 5 rocket with the Intelsat 14 spacecraft aboard.

Clocks have one more built-in hold planned at T-minus 4 minutes. That pause will last 10 minutes during which time the final "go" for launch will be given. All remains targeted for liftoff at 12:48 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.

In the next couple of minutes, chilldown thermal conditioning of the mobile launch platform upon which the rocket stands will begin. This is meant to ease the shock on equipment when supercold cryogenic propellants start flowing into the rocket.

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All console operators in the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center reported a "ready" status during the pre-fueling poll just completed by the launch conductor. The ULA launch director voiced his approval as well. Loading of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the Atlas 5 rocket will be getting underway a short time from now. Liftoff remains targeted for 12:48 a.m. EST.

Atlas launch conductor is briefing his team on procedures before entering into the final two hours of the countdown. A readiness check of the team members is next.

We're trying an experimental test tonight with live streaming video available on your iPhone. Check it out!

T-minus 2 hours and holding. The countdown has just entered the first of two planned holds over the course of the night that will lead to the 12:48 a.m. EST launch of the Atlas-Centaur rocket. This initial pause lasts 30 minutes, giving the team some margin in the countdown timeline to deal with technical issues or any work that is running behind. The final hold is scheduled to occur at T-minus 4 minutes and will last for 10 minutes.

The hold-fire checks have been performed to ensure safety officers have the capability of halting the countdown if a problem occurs.

Meanwhile, the official clearing of personnel from the launch pad for rest of the countdown has begun.

The latest check of the weather shows current conditions are favorable and the outlook is very promising this evening. The forecast for the launch window includes just some scattered clouds, northwesterly winds of 15 gusting to 20 knots, good visibility and a temperature around 58 degrees F.

As the final workers finish up their chores at the pad, the engineers back at the launch control center just completed the guidance system testing.

Now four hours from the scheduled liftoff time. Work is well underway at the Complex 41 launch pad and inside the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center in advance of tonight's mission.

Today's launch of the Atlas 5 rocket will be the second flight of the vehicle's 431 configuration, which is distinguished by the combination of a four-meter payload fairing, three solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. The first use of this version occurred in March 2005 with the launch of the Inmarsat 4-F1 mobile communications satellite.

Depending on a payload's weight, mission planners add strap-on solid boosters to the Atlas 5 to incrementally increase the amount of cargo the rocket can carry.

For the Atlas 5's 400-series, up to three solids can be used. The 500-series is capable of flying with as many as five, such as the launch of NASA's New Horizons space probe bound for Pluto.

The Russian RD-180 first stage main engine can accomplish the entire job of steering the Atlas 5 during launch, thus the solid boosters feature simple, fixed nozzles.

Each Aerojet-built SRB stands 67 feet tall, has a diameter of just over five feet and weighs about 100,000 pounds at launch. The slender white rockets have a lightweight graphite epoxy casing with an erosion-resistant insulation. The solid fuel is high-performance class 1.3 HTPB propellant.

Atop the booster is an aerodynamically-shaped graphite epoxy nose fairing. Each motor has forward and aft attachment structures to the Atlas 5's first stage. The motor nozzle is carbon-phenolic.

The motor burns for 90 seconds, producing a maximum thrust of approximately 400,000 pounds and an average around 250,000 pounds.

Officials report all continues to go well and no technical issues are being worked. Fueling of the Atlas 5 rocket is slated to begin shortly before 11 p.m. EST tonight.

Check out a photo gallery taken this afternoon showing the Atlas 5 rocket awaiting the start of its countdown to launch: here.

Liftoff of the Intelsat 14 spacecraft is just five hours away now. The countdown continues to tick at Complex 41 toward a liftoff at 12:48 a.m. EST.

The Atlas 5 rocket that will deliver the satellite into orbit tonight was assembled inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 starting with erection of the bronze first stage onto the mobile launch platform.

The first stage, known as a Common Core Booster, is 106 feet long and 12.5 feet in diameter. It is equipped with the kerosene-fueled RD-180 main engine.

Later, the hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage with its RL10 engine was hoisted into position and three strap-on solid propellant boosters were attached to the first stage.

The Centaur is about 40 feet long and 10 feet in diameter. Each solid rocket booster is 67 feet long and 5 feet in diameter.

On October 27, the vehicle was rolled out to the launch pad for a countdown dress rehearsal. A full launch day simulation, including the loading of propellants into the rocket stages, successfully occurred on October 28. The rocket was returned to the VIF on October 29.

Meanwhile, the Intelsat 14 spacecraft arrived at Cape Canaveral from its Space Systems/Loral manufacturing factory on September 23. It underwent final pre-flight preparations at the Astrotech facility near Titusville. After being encapsulated in the nose cone shroud, the satellite was brought to the VIF for hoisting atop the Atlas last Tuesday.

The combined operations between the rocket and payload were accomplished over the following week, leading to the final launch readiness reviews Wednesday that concluded with approval to proceed with Thursday's rollout to the pad for the countdown to liftoff.