spacetoday.net: Atlas launches NRO satellite

Posted: Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 7:25 AM ET (1125 GMT)
Atlas 5 launch of NROL-67 (ULA)

An Atlas 5 successfully launched a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on Thursday. The Atlas 5 541 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:45 pm EDT (1745 GMT) on a mission designated NROL-67. Coverage of the launch ended a few minutes after liftoff, although an Air Force press release later Thursday called the launch a success. While the NRO hasn't released information about the satellite launched on Thursday, some experts believe the launch carried a new signals intelligence satellite that will operate from geosynchronous orbit. The launch had been scheduled for late March but was postponed by the failure of a tracking radar at Cape Canaveral that also delayed the launch of a Falcon 9. That launch has been rescheduled for April 14.