The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket took off from Vandenberg Airforce Base in California on October 8, 2015. Photo from Vandenberg Airforce Base / Facebook

Students from Salish Kootenai College in Montana sent a satellite into space on Thursday morning.

BisonSat is a miniaturized satellite known as a CubeSat. It will conduct observations of Earth via a powerful camera, according to its public license.

"5:49am Pacific Time the BisonSat was launched from Vandenberg Airforce Base on the California coast," BisonSat said on Facebook yesterday morning.

A student from Salish Kootenai College displays some of the components of the BisonSat. Photo from Facebook

BisonSat and other student projects were carried aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that took off from Vandenberg Airforce Base in California. The rocket also included a "secret" payload from the National Reconnaissance Office, the Associated Press reported.

"This mission is a great example of how NRO, NASA, the Air Force, and our academic colleagues collaborate to amplify innovative technology to support the nation,” Air Force Colonel Clint Hunt, the director of the office, said in a press release.

Get the Story:
US Spy Satellite Launches Into Space Along with 13 Tiny Cubesats (Space.com 10/8)
Atlas V Rocket Blasts Off From Vandenberg Air Force Base (Noozhawk 10/8)
Rocket with secret payload launches from California coast (AP 10/8)
Video: Atlas V Rocket Successfully Launches From Vandenberg Air Force Base (KTLA 10/8)

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