Photos: EchoStar 19 launch as seen from press site

A Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship, primarily using previously-flown hardware, are scheduled for liftoff before dawn Friday at Cape Canaveral on SpaceX’s 15th cargo launch to the International Space Station under contract to NASA.

Slung under the belly of a specially-equipped carrier airplane, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket took off Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a two-day trek to a remote U.S. military test site in the Pacific Ocean, where crews will ready the air-dropped booster for launch of a NASA research satellite next week.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off at 6:18 a.m. EDT (1018 GMT).to deploy the Navy’s fourth MUOS satellite that will expand coverage to encompass the globe with mobile communications.