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The day Donald Trump was sworn in as president, this rocket was busy ditching Earth.。
The rose gold-hued Atlas V lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 7:42 p.m. ET on Friday. 。
SEE ALSO:This rocket company clearly wants to be as cool as SpaceX 。The rocket's payload -- the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 3 satellite -- is designed to help detect missile launches worldwide. 。
Via Giphy 。The SBIRS mission is "considered one of the nation's highest priority space programs," according to the United Launch Alliance (ULA), which sent the rocket into space. 。
While the ULA launch and the presidential inauguration weren't related, it didn't stop people (including this reporter) from making jokes about the timing of the two events. 。
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You can kind of think of ULA as the stodgy uncle to Elon Musk's SpaceX. 。
The joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin is one of the most consistent companies in the rocket launching game. 。
The company prides itself on reliability, whereas SpaceX is more interested in disrupting the way that rockets have been launched for years. 。
You can check out the full launch webcast in the window below. 。
This launch was the Atlas V's 69th mission in total, and ULA's first of 2017. The company is expected to launch 11 rockets this year.。
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SpaceX's most recent rocket landing looks so sci-fi in new photos 。