Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Wednesday to begin a day-and-a-half pursuit of the International Space Station.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket climbed into space Sunday with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a daring mission to explore the atmosphere of the sun. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral occurred at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

A Chinese Long March 4C rocket launched Tuesday with a new polar-orbiting weather observatory named Fengyun 3D, replacing an aging satellite for the China Meteorological Administration.