Video: Saturday’s SpaceX launch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Tuesday with five communications satellites for Iridium’s commercial voice, data relay, and tracking network, and a pair of U.S.-German research craft to probe Earth’s climate and water cycle. Launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, occurred at 12:47 p.m. PDT (3:47 p.m. EDT; 1947 GMT).

SpaceX trucked its Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft — refurbished with a new heat shield and structural enhancements — across the Cape Canaveral spaceport this week for attachment to a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of a planned liftoff next Thursday with four astronauts heading to the International Space Station.

Overcoming 50-50 weather odds, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Thursday morning on its 44th Starlink delivery mission of the year. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 1:36 a.m. EDT (0536 UTC), the fourth launch opportunity of the window.