Rocket blasts off with new NASA communications satellite

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Feb 2:  An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off on Wednesday to put the first of a new generation of NASA communications satellites into orbit, where it will support the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft. The 191-foot (58-metre) rocket lifted off at 8:48 pm (0718 IST Thursday), the first of 13 planned launches in 2013 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station just south of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (agencies)