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Photos: Atlas launch seen from pad cameras
Views of the Dec. 12 launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from up-close remote cameras placed near the booster's launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Record-setting Atlas launches with new Centaur engine
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket put on a display of power, sound and light Friday evening at Vandenberg Air Force Base in launching a clandestine national security payload, then successfully debuted a new upper stage engine as it flew over the horizon.

Photos: Atlas launch seen from press site
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket unleashed two million pounds of thrust at 7:19 p.m. PST (10:19 p.m. EST) on Dec. 12 to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the NROL-35 mission. See photos of the launch from the press viewing site.

Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5
The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 20-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off from California
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Launch occurred at 7:19 p.m. PST (10:19 p.m. EST; 0319 GMT).

Weather not looking promising for Atlas 5 launch
Rainy weather at the California launch site is forecast to put a damper on plans to fly an Atlas 5 rocket on Thursday evening.

Photos: Payload stacked for Thursday’s Atlas 5
See images of a classified spy payload lifted on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Atlas 5 to sport new upper stage engine Thursday
The most powerful Atlas rocket to ever fly from the West Coast is poised for launch Thursday to deliver a secret payload into orbit while debuting a new upper stage engine.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy launch gallery
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifts off with NASA's Orion ship on its inaugural space flight test at 7:05 a.m. EST Dec. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Complex 37.
VideoVideo: The launch of Orion
Video as seen live of the Orion spaceship launching atop a powerful Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral on Friday, Dec. 5.