Close-up views of Minotaur liftoff

A record-setting payload of 29 satellites rode to orbit aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket Tuesday night.

The 69-foot-tall rocket blasted off at 8:15 p.m. EST (0115 GMT) from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The mission was sponsored by the U.S. military's Operationally Responsive Space office.

Credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.