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

NASA’s first space-worthy Orion capsule blasted off atop a Delta 4-Heavy booster rocket for a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise in orbit. Liftoff occurred at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT), with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:29 a.m. EST (1629 GMT).

A commercial Antares rocket rolled out of a hangar on a one-mile trip to its launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on Thursday, ready for final countdown preparations ahead of liftoff Saturday morning on a cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station.

Rocket Lab will bypass its current launch window to resolve a recurring problem with a motor controller on the company’s light-class Electron rocket, likely postponing its first commercial satellite launch at least a few weeks.