Minotaur rocket launch dazzles East Coast

A record-setting payload of 29 satellites rode to orbit aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket Tuesday night.

The 69-foot-tall rocket blasted off at 8:15 p.m. EST (0115 GMT) from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The mission was sponsored by the U.S. military's Operationally Responsive Space office.

These views were submitted to Spaceflight Now showing the Minotaur's ascent into a moonlit sky, which was visible from Georgia to Maine.

This image was taken at the Wallops Flight Facility viewing site about 2 miles from the launch pad. Credit: NASA/Allison Stancil

This image shows the Minotaur's launch from the moonlit beach at Bay Head, N.J. Credit: Twitter user @Greg_NJ

This image was submitted from Alexandria, Va. Credit: Peter Ozdzynski

This image was taken at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. Credit: Travis Jay Brown

This image is from Ashburn, Va. in suburban Washington. Credit: Kamil Wlodarczyk

The Minotaur's launch was spotted more than 200 miles north of the launch site in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Credit: Ken Griggs

The view from Fairfax, Va. Credit: Paulo Ordoveza

A reader sent in this image from Stonington, Conn. Credit: Daniel J. Grinkevich

The Minotaur rocket appeared low on the horizon from Plymouth, Mass. Credit: Ryan Smith

This image was submitted from Hammonton, N.J. Credit: Joe Osciak

The Minotaur rocket was visible from Charlton, Mass. Credit: Chad Whitlock

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