Live coverage: Falcon 9 blasts off with X-37B mini-shuttle

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday carrying the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth.

Blue Origin says it is “very, very close” to flying humans on suborbital launches to the edge of space after a successful test flight of a human-capable rocket and capsule Thursday.

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy, outfitted to produce more thrust than the heavy-lifter’s debut flight last year, was raised vertical at launch pad 39A in Florida on Wednesday ahead of a launch attempt with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite.