Video: Falcon 9 rocket fires up engines on launch pad (members only)

SpaceX scrubbed an attempt to launch a commercial Falcon 9 rocket Sunday less than a minute before liftoff, blaming a sensor issue on the vehicle’s first stage and pushing back the company’s first national security mission for the U.S. government at least 24 hours.

An eight-ton Russian Progress supply ship packed with nearly three tons of food, water and fuel for the International Space Station is ready for liftoff Friday on a vital mission to resume cargo deliveries to the outpost after back-to-back logistics flights fell short.

The Italian PRISMA Earth observation satellite is set to ride a Vega launcher into a 382-mile-high (615-kilometer) orbit Thursday night from French Guiana on a mission that will take less than one hour from liftoff until spacecraft separation.