Photos: More Delta 4 launch shots

Two more roll-out solar arrays will ride a SpaceX cargo ship to the International Space Station this weekend, continuing a years-long mid-life station upgrade as NASA plans procurement of a final set of new solar wings to fully reinforce the lab’s power supply.

Blue Origin has conducted the first hotfire test of its BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas, a powerplant fueled by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen that will power the company’s heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and perhaps United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan launcher, officials announced Thursday.

Follow the Delta 4 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 launch pad to deploy the Wideband Global SATCOM 9 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Friday at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT).