Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

The two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, or GSSAP, satellites for the U.S. military are mounted aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket. Liftoff is planned for Aug. 19 from Cape Canaveral.

A package of communications and tech demo satellites for the U.S. Air Force rode a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket into an orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Saturday evening.

At the conclusion of a two-day flight readiness review, “all the teams polled ‘go’ to launch and fly Artemis 2 around the moon, pending completion of some of the work before we roll out to the launch pad,” said Lori Glaze, associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters.