Photos: Falcon 9 launch from Press Site

SES, the international communications satellite operator, plans to send two more C-band television broadcasting spacecraft into orbit from Cape Canaveral Friday night atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a mission that will help clear spectrum for transition to 5G network services.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by a reused first stage climbed into orbit Tuesday from California’s Central Coast, carrying five satellites to upgrade Iridium’s global messaging service and two research craft to study Earth’s water cycle.

China launched its second space mission in less than 24 hours Tuesday, sending a Beidou navigation satellite toward an orbital perch around 22,000 miles above Earth.