Q&A with Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight Industries (members only)

The Falcon 9 rocket launching the Starlink 15-13 mission will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff is for 7:27 a.m. PST (10:27 a.m. EST / 1527 UTC).

Fifteen CubeSats owned by NASA, Spire Global, and U.S. research institutions launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship in May have been released into orbit, beginning missions to demonstrate miniaturized, low-cost Earth science instruments and join a commercial network of weather-monitoring nanosatellites.

Watch a time-lapse video as the Falcon Heavy is moved into position for prelaunch testing at the Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A on January 12, 2018.