Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

If confirmed, Isaacman, 41, would be the fifth NASA administrator with spaceflight experience, replacing former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who flew into orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia in early 1986.

The geostationary orbital satellite is the fourth and final in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) series. Liftoff happened at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 UTC).

A two-stage Northrop Grumman Antares rocket rolled out of its horizontal integration facility Monday for the mile-journey south to launch pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, where liftoff on a space station resupply mission is scheduled for Wednesday.