Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

A U.S. military satellite that will fortify the “anytime, anywhere” communications infrastructure used by soldiers, ships, aircraft and drones was launched into orbit Thursday to improve the global connectivity that encompasses the planet.

The main engine rumbling to life. Ice shards breaking free. The rocket lumbering off the pad. The battle against gravity being won once again. That was the scene as the Atlas 5 took flight to cap a generation of Global Positioning System satellites.

The U.S. military’s highest capacity communications satellite ever built was successfully launched into space tonight, departing Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT).