Video: Time-lapse of Atlas 5’s rollout for launch of GOES-S (members only)

United Launch Alliance engineers have resolved the problem that triggered an abort of a planned Delta 4-Heavy rocket launch Sept. 30, but the company said Friday it is continuing to evaluate a concern with the launch pad swing arm retraction system at Cape Canaveral. ULA said the Delta 4-Heavy’s mission to launch a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite will be postponed beyond next week.

SpaceX’s launch team ran through a traditional preflight test Monday, putting a Falcon 9 rocket through a mock countdown, loading it with propellant and briefly firing its nine engines on a launch pad in California ahead of this weekend’s liftoff with a U.S.-European oceanography satellite.

The first launch of a U.S. Space Force mission since the establishment of the new military service is planned Thursday, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a billion-dollar jam-resistant communications satellite designed to ensure national leaders remain connected with the armed forces.