Photos: Final ULA mission of the year blasts off successfully

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Merah Putih communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.

United Launch Alliance’s rocket transport ship has delivered a Delta 4-Heavy rocket to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch of a U.S. government spy satellite late this year.

SpaceX is preparing for liftoff Tuesday of its first mission for the U.S. Space Force, a launch from Cape Canaveral that will deploy a new GPS navigation satellite using a redesigned profile to allow the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster to reserve enough propellant for landing on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.