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Video: NROL-79 launch aboard Atlas 5
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine at 9:49:51 a.m. local time today to launch the secret NROL-79 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Photos: Pad gantry rolled back to reveal Atlas 5 for launch
The mobile service tower retracts from the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 191-foot-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the classified NROL-79 national security payload for the U.S. government.
VideoTimeline: Atlas 5/NROL-79 launch events
Follow the unclassified portion of the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent to space from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-79 satellite payload. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. EST; 1750 GMT).
Photos: Atlas 5 rocket ready to fly with NROL-79 payload
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket stands atop Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the eve of Wednesday's NROL-79 satellite-deployment mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Preview: Atlas 5 to provide spacelift for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office
Taking a U.S. national security satellite payload into space is the primary objective of the 70th Atlas 5 booster that will be launched Wednesday.
Commercial space cargo ship’s ride to orbit assembled for March 19 launch
An Atlas 5 booster core and Centaur upper stage have been stacked to launch another commercial freighter with supplies and scientific research gear to the International Space Station next month.
Reconnaissance payload mounted atop Atlas 5 for California launch
Rising from the ground and into the launch pad gantry, a clandestine U.S. national security payload was fitted atop its Atlas 5 booster rocket in California today for the ride into space on March 1.
No imminent X-37B landing planned
The enigmatic X-37B spaceplane, launched into low-Earth orbit on an experimental military mission in 2015, continues to circle the planet despite a flurry of landing rumors.
ULA’s navy delivers rocket that will launch supplies to the space station
The ocean-sailing ship that transports rocket stages from United Launch Alliance's factory to U.S. launch sites completed its latest voyage overnight, pulling into port to deliver the Atlas 5 that will send a cargo freighter to the International Space Station in March.
WorldView 4 high-resolution satellite now open for business in space
Less than three months after rocketing into space, the commercial WorldView 4 Earth-imagery satellite has finished in-orbit testing and calibration to begin operations for DigitalGlobe.