Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches for DirecTV

Days after SpaceX opened preorders for Starlink internet service, two more Falcon 9 rockets are set to launch from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as Sunday night and Wednesday morning — weather permitting — to help push the network closer to commercial operations.

Technicians transferred an Ariane 5 rocket loaded with two DirecTV broadcasting satellites to a launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, one day before the European launcher is set for liftoff.

SpaceX launch crews rolled out the company’s next Falcon 9 rocket to pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, then lifted the two-stage launcher vertical for a hold-down engine firing Thursday in preparation for launch next week with a South Korean-owned commercial communications satellite.