Photos: First ULA mission of the year blasts off

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the South Korean Anasis 2 military communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.

A forecast of low ceilings, thick clouds and rainy weather Thursday has led NASA and Northrop Grumman officials to push back the launch of an Antares rocket and a space station-bound supply ship from Virginia’s Eastern Shore to Friday morning.

A military communications satellite, built with international funding from Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand, has been stacked atop a Delta 4 rocket to launch into a worldwide information-relay network operated by the U.S.