Posted: Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 6:48 PM ET (2348 GMT)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 successfully launched the fourth in a series of missile warning satellites Friday night. The Atlas 5 411 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:48 pm EST Friday (0048 GMT Saturday) carrying the SBIRS GEO-4 satellite. The spacecraft separated from the Centaur upper stage 37 minutes after liftoff. The satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, joins three others in geostationary orbit with infrared sensors to monitor for missile launches. Two more SBIRS satellites are under development for launch in the early 2020s.