Photos: More shots of Saturday’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket Launch

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).

A rocket engine that could power United Launch Alliance’s next-generation rocket has passed a major design review, clearing the way for full-scale hotfire testing starting next year and certification for test flights in 2019, according to Aerojet Rocketdyne, the powerplant’s developer.

Weather forecasters expect a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at Cape Canaveral for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket Thursday with a GPS navigation satellite, marking the last flight of the Delta 4’s single-core variant after 29 flights since 2002.