Photos: Delta 4-Heavy launch as seen from press site

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to roll out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first time next month for a hold-down firing of its 27 Merlin main engines, but the mega-rocket’s inaugural test launch will slip into January, officials confirmed Tuesday.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket fired into space Thursday from Cape Canaveral with a $1.1 billion U.S. Air Force communications satellite, delivering fresh capacity for the military’s voice, video and data relay networks.

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched with 14 satellites, including a dozen “SuperDove” Earth-imaging CubeSats for Planet, at 10:58 p.m. EST Tuesday (0358 GMT Wednesday).