VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California — The largest rocket ever launched from the West Coast blasted off Thursday with a classified defense satellite on board.
The 235-foot (71.63-meter) -tall Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle lifted off carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The booster rose into the sky over California's central coast and arced over the Pacific Ocean, a spectacle visible over a wide area.
United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of rocket builders Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., said in a statement that the launch was a success.
