Video: Falcon launch replays

Axiom Space, a Houston-based company with plans to develop a commercial outpost in space, announced Thursday it has signed a contract with SpaceX to ferry a professional astronaut and three paying passengers to the International Space Station as soon as next year on the first fully private human spaceflight mission to Earth orbit.

A Falcon 9 launcher bolted into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, adding the brilliant orange glare of rocket exhaust to a spectacular sunset as the 229-foot-tall booster propelled the SES 9 communications satellite into orbit to serve the Asia-Pacific with high-definition television programming and connectivity on-the-go.

The Starlink 11-10 mission was the sixth orbital launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base this year. Liftoff from pad 4E happened Monday at 6:09 p.m. PST (9:09 p.m. EST, 0209 UTC).