Heavy, man.

Today at 5:40 PM local time, Boeing's newest rocket thundered off from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Delta IV Heavy is a heavy-lift variant of the Delta IV - the latest in Boeing's venerable Delta lineage. "Heavy-lift" ain't no understatement - this behemoth can lift a 28,950 pound payload to geosynchronous orbit (50,800 to low Earth orbit).

Although the three rocket engines in the vehicle's core generated less total lift than anticipated, the second stage was able to compensate with a longer burn. Congratulations to the Delta IV Heavy team! (I'll bet this is just the Christmas present you folks were looking for)