Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches for DirecTV

A Turkish-owned communications satellite is set to rocket into orbit Thursday night from Cape Canaveral to open SpaceX’s 2021 launch schedule.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the JCSAT 16 communications satellite into orbit 32 minutes later.

A U.S.-built, Bulgarian-owned broadcast satellite will launch in mid-June from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a previously-used SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that first flew in January, officials said Friday.