Stats: Delta 4 history and manifest

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Saturday to begin a pursuit of the International Space Station.

There were more successful space launches in 2014 than in any year since 1992, with Russia, the United States and China responsible for more than 80 percent of global launch activity.

An early bird rocket launch from the Florida spaceport will take to the skies before dawn Thursday when an Atlas 5 lofts a classified U.S. government satellite.