Photos: Falcon takes flight

SpaceX has delayed liftoff of its next cargo ship bound for the International Space Station until Friday, setting up a one-shot attempt to launch the commercial supply carrier from Cape Canaveral before a potential slip to late December due to high solar angles in orbit.

The sixth Falcon 9 rocket booster recovered by SpaceX has returned to Port Canaveral after an up-and-down flight Aug. 14 that sent a commercial Japanese broadcasting satellite toward orbit.

The Canadian telecom satellite operator Telesat plans to launch two multipurpose communications spacecraft aboard SpaceX Falcon rockets in 2018, the company disclosed this week in a quarterly earnings announcement.