The world's biggest rocket just launched a secret spy satellite to space
UPDATE: June 11, 2016, 2:04 p.m. EDT United Launch Alliance successfully launched the secret payload for the National Reconnaissance office on Saturday at 1:51 p.m. ET. Read the original story on the launch below.
The world's largest rocket is set to launch a secret spy satellite to space from Florida on Saturday and you can watch it live online.
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United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket is expected to loft a secret payload to space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) at 1:51 p.m. ET Saturday.
You can watch a webcast of the launch starting at 1:31 p.m. ET directly through ULA. (The ULA webcast isn't available for embed at the moment. This story will be updated if it becomes available.)
As of this writing, the chance of good weather during the launch is 60%.
The only information released by ULA about this secretive mission -- called NROL-37 -- is that it's "in support of national defense," according to a mission listing.
The webcast itself will probably be pretty short. According to the space industry website Spaceflight Now, the live broadcast will cut off about six and a half minutes into the launch, going into a news blackout to keep the secret mission secret.
While not much is known about the mission itself, the NRO was pretty upfront about what their (kind of creepy) mission patch for the payload represents.
According to a Facebook post from the NRO, the knight represents "a symbol of courage with a chivalrous code of conduct representing bravery, training, and service to others."
"The knight stands in front of the U.S. flag in a defensive posture as to protect at all cost," the NRO continues.
"The eagle on the chest is a symbol of both freedom and the United States of America. The sword is a message of tenacious, fierce focus with the claws representing extreme reach with global coverage."
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Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
