Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

SpaceX’s third Falcon Heavy rocket is set for liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the heavy-lift launcher will head on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:09 p.m. EST Thursday (0109 GMT Friday). The long-delayed mission is carrying a classified spy satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Blue Origin launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket Thursday, putting two small NASA satellites onto a long, looping course to Mars to learn more about how the sun has slowly blown away the red planet’s once thick atmosphere.