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Ignition and liftoff! OCO-2's voyage gets underway with a spectacular predawn liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Delta II rocket is lighting the skies as it climbs out over the Pacific Ocean. The rocket's first stage is providing 200,000 pounds of thrust and getting an additional boost from the …

Liftoff is one minute away!

Only two minutes left in the countdown.

OCO-2 is four minutes away from the start of its journey.

NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn and ULA Launch Conductor Ward Johansen have performed one last round of polls and all teams are ready to proceed with the countdown. Stand by for release of the T-4 minute hold.

The OCO-2 spacecraft is running on internal power and configured for launch.

Clocks are holding at T-4 minutes. This is a 10-minute built-in hold and the last one planned in today's countdown.

Countdown clocks are ticking again. There will be one more built-in hold at the T-4 minute mark.

Launch Weather Officer Joseph Round just briefed the launch team on the current and forecast weather conditions, but there were no surprises. We're still "green" on all launch agency and range safety constraints.

The countdown has paused temporarily at the T-15 minute mark. This is a planned hold lasting 20 minutes. There are no issues being worked in the countdown and liftoff remains scheduled for 2:56 a.m. PDT/5:56 a.m. EDT.