Photos: California’s predawn liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket

Two communications satellites owned by Saudi Arabian and Indian operators rocketed into orbit Tuesday on top of a European Ariane 5 rocket, the first of up to 13 launches planned from French Guiana this year.

Orbital ATK has ordered another Atlas 5 rocket to launch a second commercial Cygnus cargo craft for the International Space Station.

Follow the Delta 4 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 launch pad to deploy the Wideband Global SATCOM 9 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Friday at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT).