[Satellite TODAY 04-18-11] United Launch Alliance (ULA) has launched a new U.S. spy satellite on an Atlas 5 rocket to support a secret national security mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the launch provider announced April 14.
    The NROL-34 satellite launched from the Vandenberg Air Force and is on its way to a classified orbital location. The launch marked the 25th launch of the Atlas 5 vehicle since its first launch in August 2002.
    NROL-34 is the eighth NRO spacecraft to be launched since September, which includes two NRO CubeSats, which were launched by SpaceX in December aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The two demonstration CubeSats were operated as part of the Colony-1 program that ended in January when the two satellites returned to Earth from orbit.