NROL 35 - Most Powerful Atlas Launch From New Centaur Engine

[burntheships]

At two million pounds of ground-shaking thrust, it was the most powerful Atlas in the 55-year history of flights from the California base. This marked the 294th Atlas to fly from Vandenberg and the 10th in the Atlas 5 form.

Blasting off at 7:19 p.m. local time, the 20-story rocket lit up the nighttime sky and headed southeastward to ascend into an orbit whose parameters remained classified............

This was the 9th and final Atlas 5 launch of 2014,  the most ever in a year for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.

NROL-35, a top-secret satellite-delivery flight for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO is the secretive government agency that controls the country's spy satellites......


.....a new generation of electronic signals intelligence-gathering satellite, commonly referred to as Trumpet...


http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/13/record-setting-atlas-launches-with-new-centaur-engine/