United Launch Alliance fired off its first operational Vulcan rocket Tuesday, boosting two military satellites into space in the first U.S. Space Force-sanctioned flight of a new launcher that eventually will replace the company's Atlas 5 and already-retired Deltas.

Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional takeoff power, the 198-foot-tall Vulcan's two methane-fueled BE-4 engines thundered to life at 8:56 p.m. EDT, instantly propelling the rocket away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket, making its first flight for the U.S. Space Force, majestically climbs away from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to kick off a high-priority military mission. United Launch Alliance

Arcing over the Atlantic Ocean

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