Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

Once it goes through a confirmation review, the observatory can proceed into construction. The 5.9-foot telescope will be capped at a project cost of $1.2 billion, which excludes launch “and other non-project costs.”

United Launch Alliance has released a replay of the May 5 liftoff of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, as viewed by aft- and forward-facing cameras on the two-stage launch vehicle.

View photos of Thursday’s spectacular sunset launch from Cape Canaveral of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket with the U.S. Air Force’s seventh Wideband Global SATCOM communications platform.