Video: Falcon launch replays

SpaceX will sacrifice a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday in a fiery test a minute-and-a-half after liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast to prove the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft can safely push astronauts away from a failing launch vehicle, simulating a daring maneuver that would only be attempted on a piloted mission during an in-flight emergency.

Falcon Heavy is returning to the hangar and the launch of the USSF-52 mission with the X-37B spaceplane is on hold. A ground issue scrubbed an earlier launch attempt and now required work on the vehicle itself.

The Starlink 11-20 mission saw SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon departure from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 7:04 p.m. PDT (10:04 p.m. EDT / 0204 UTC).