NRO – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

October 8, 2015

A collection of pad photos from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight carrying the NROL-55 cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Photos: California’s predawn liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket

October 8, 2015

Making its second launch in just six days, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight blasted off Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Second Atlas 5 rocket launched in span of six days

October 8, 2015

Churning out the launches at a rapid pace, the Atlas 5 program sent another rocket soaring like clockwork Thursday for deployment of a national security satellite duo from California.

Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 on NROL-55

October 8, 2015

A replay of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launching the classified NROL-55 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5 rocket

October 8, 2015

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 19-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on NROL-55.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

October 7, 2015

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:49 a.m. local time (8:49 a.m. EDT; 1249 GMT) Thursday on the classified National Reconnaissance Office NROL-55 mission.

Intel-gathering spacecraft launch on Atlas 5 scheduled for Thursday

October 6, 2015

Poised for its one and only satellite launch of the year, the National Reconnaissance Office will conduct a hush-hush flight Thursday using a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from California.

Photos: NROL-55 payload joins Atlas booster rocket for launch

October 4, 2015

This photo gallery shows the classified National Reconnaissance Office payload, already encapsulated in the 14-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base for liftoff Oct. 8.

Three Atlas 5, Delta 4 assigned to military launches

February 2, 2015

Three rockets under the existing Block Buy between the Pentagon and United Launch Alliance have been assigned configurations and payloads.

Record-setting Atlas launches with new Centaur engine

December 13, 2014

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.