Live coverage: Irma knocks out power at Kennedy Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket darted into a partly cloudy sky over Florida’s Space Coast with a roar Thursday afternoon, carrying the Japanese-built Es’hail 2 communications satellite into space to beam commercial video and data services across the Middle East and expand connectivity for Qatar’s military.

Air Force meteorologists are giving good odds of acceptable weather conditions for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to fly Friday morning from Cape Canaveral to put a Navy mobile communications satellite into orbit.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft were lowered horizontal on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center the day before launch, allowing teams to address an issue with a chilled water loop near the top of the strongback structure.