The second time was the charm for the United Launch Alliance as its Atlas V rocket successfully soared into space Wednesday morning.

The rocket launched at 8:28 a.m. from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying a top secret military satellite into orbit.

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It was a beautiful sight from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the Atlas V roared overhead, right on schedule.

A little cloud cover over the Space Coast caused some concern, but conditions were deemed ideal for an on-time launch.

The Atlas V was initially scheduled for launch Monday, but was delayed because of a faulty environmental control system duct.

That duct had to be removed and replaced, and mission managers said they had no problems sending the rocket into space Wednesday.

On board is a government spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, which is in charge of America’s security spy satellites.

Several of the office's missions lately have been to replace old satellites in orbit.

For the ULA, which is behind the rocket, it's a busy year on the Space Coast.

"We have 11 missions total scheduled this year, nine right here on the Space Coast," said the ULA's Jessica Rye. "We have an exciting NASA mission coming up later this year. Just a lot going on between national security payloads, NASA missions, so a great time to watch a rocket launch here at the Cape."

Wednesday's launch was No. 61 for the alliance, which is already gearing up for its next scheduled launch in just over a week.

A Delta IV heavy rocket is set to lift off Thursday, June 28, from Launch Pad 37. That launch is also for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The ULA is also working on human spaceflight. Since the retirement of the space shuttle fleet last year, the U.S. has had to rely on Russian spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station.

So commercial companies like the United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, which sent its Dragon capsule on a successful test flight to the ISS in late May, are working on making their rockets human ready.

Those private companies hope to launch astronauts from Florida again in the next three to five years.