Rocket carrying national security satellite launched from base on California coast

Rocket with secret satellite launched from Calif.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A rocket carrying classified satellite cargo has been successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central coast.

A release from the base says the Atlas 5 rocket carrying a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office was launched Monday shortly after 9 p.m.

No details about the satellite’s orbit or capabilities were released.

The launch was a project three years in the making by Vandenberg’s 30th Space Wing, the United Launch Alliance and the NRO, which oversees the nation’s constellation of spy satellites.