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Credit: James Murati/Bionetics Photo ServicesAtlas 5 rocket rolled out to launch padSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 15, 2012 The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is hauled out to the pad this morning, riding the rails from its assembly building to Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 for the final day-and-a-half of preparations to fly the massive new communications satellite into orbit for the Defense Department.Tomorrow's ascent with the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System 1 satellite will begin constructing a new space-based constellation for global mobile communications and replacing the military's aging Ultra High Frequency (UHF) spacecraft fleet.See our for the latest news on the launch.Photo credit: /Spaceflight NowAtlas 5 rocket rumbles into sunny skyA 20-story Atlas 5 rocket ignited its Russian main engine and soared into a clear sky at 5:46 p.m. EST (2246 GMT) Saturday. The rocket sent the U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane into orbit for a top secret mission testing military technologies.These photos were taken at the Kennedy Space Center press site about 3.8 miles from the Atlas launch pad. Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Atlas 5 rocket set for its first U.S. military launchSPACEFLIGHT NOW