Atlas 5

Already shrouded in the Atlas 5 rocket’s Extra Extended Payload Fairing (XEPF) aluminum nose cone, the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-61 satellite was delivered to Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility on Tuesday, July 19 and lifted aboard the United Launch Alliance vehicle for flight.

Crews hoisted a covert spacecraft atop an Atlas 5 booster rocket this morning for its trek into an equatorial orbit next week.