Posted: Sat, Aug 2, 2014, 10:07 AM ET (1407 GMT)
An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched a Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation satellite Friday night. The Atlas 5 401 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:23 pm EDT Friday (0323 GMT Saturday) carrying the GPS 2F-7 satellite. The rocket's Centaur upper stage released the satellite in medium Earth orbit nearly three and a half hours after liftoff. The satellite is the latest in the GPS 2F series of 12 spacecraft to augment and improve the GPS constellation. The launch was the second in less than a week for United Launch Alliance, after a Delta 4 launch, also from the Cape, on Monday.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Florida Today article
•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  CBS News article
•  United Launch Alliance press release