Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off with two Intelsat satellites

SpaceX kicked off Memorial Day weekend with an overnight launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral, boosting a nearly five-ton communications satellite into orbit for Arabsat, a multinational consortium providing TV and video broadcast services across the Middle East.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was transferred from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 today for Friday’s launch of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M that directly supports the International Space Station and various science missions.

A massive radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM is set for liftoff Friday on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, punctuating a busy week for SpaceX that included the debut of a new-generation cargo ship for the International Space Station and a spectacular atmospheric test flight of a prototype rocket over South Texas.