Q&A with Mark Mulqueen, Boeing’s space station program manager

A forecast of low ceilings, thick clouds and rainy weather Thursday has led NASA and Northrop Grumman officials to push back the launch of an Antares rocket and a space station-bound supply ship from Virginia’s Eastern Shore to Friday morning.

An Ariane 5 rocket will fire into the sky from French Guiana just after sunset Tuesday and deliver two payloads to orbit for Intelsat, one of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators, and Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. of Japan.

Russia is delaying the return to Earth of three space station crew members by about a month in the wake of the failure of a Russian Progress supply ship that spun out of control moments after reaching orbit April 28. Launch of three fresh crew members also will be delayed, from May 26 to late July.