Video: Atlas 5 rocket launches space station cargo mission

The U.S. Air Force’s fourth new-generation SBIRS missile warning satellite is headed for geosynchronous orbit after lifting off from Cape Canaveral at 7:48 p.m. EST Friday (0048 GMT Saturday), after a one-day delay caused by a troublesome fill-and-drain valve.

Expedition 45 commander Scott Kelly and flight engineer Kjell Lindgren have switched their spacesuits to battery power to begin planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk Wednesday outside the International Space Station.

The debut launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from a privately-operated base in New Zealand made it to space Thursday, proving the performance of major parts of the booster before faltering short of the velocity it needed to enter orbit, the company said in a statement.