Video: Dragon arrives at space station

The head of the launch enterprise directorate at the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Claire Leon, spoke with reporters March 15 about the military’s award of a GPS launch contract to SpaceX, and she discussed plans for more head-to-head launch contract competitions in the coming months.

The milestone comes as a result of the 34th dedicated Starlink launch of the year for SpaceX. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 UTC).

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the EchoStar 23 communications satellite into orbit 34 minutes later.