An Air Force Atlas V rocket lifts the U.S. military’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-1) satellite into orbit at 7:07 a.m. on 14 August 2010 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Skies were clear save for a disappointing cloud bank along the horizon that blocked the light from the rising Sun making this dawn launch more like a night launch as far as photography was concerned.

And now a few words from the U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet concerning the AEHF system:

The Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) System is a joint service satellite communications system that will provide survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets. Advanced EHF will allow the National Security Council and Unified Combatant Commanders to control their tactical and strategic forces at all levels of conflict through general nuclear war and supports the attainment of information superiority.