Live coverage: Orion lands in Pacific

Launch teams are readying three rockets for a series of blastoffs this week from Cape Canaveral to loft a classified orbiting spy platform for the U.S. government, a long-delayed Argentine radar imaging payload, and the next set of Starlink broadband satellites.

After tropical weather passes through Florida to start the week, meteorologists say there is a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions for the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket to fly Thursday from Cape Canaveral with a reconnaissance satellite payload for the U.S. government.

The countdown began Saturday evening and will continue through the start of a simulated launch window opening at 9 p.m. EST Monday. The test started two days late because of predicted arctic weather along Florida’s Space Coast.