Atlas 5 rocket launches satellite to bring high-speed Internet to more Americans

The world’s highest capacity broadband satellite, a craft that will connect rural America to high-speed Internet service, successfully rocketed into space today aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster. With a 2-to-1 thrust-to-weight ratio, the million-pound rocket unleashed two-million pounds of ground-shaking thrust to power away from its seaside launch complex at 2:13 p.m. EST (1913 GMT). The 194-foot-tall rocket, with its main engine and three side-mounted boosters all burning, left Cape Canaveral behind quickly to break through the sound barrier and pass the region of maximum air pressure in less than a minute. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 19)