Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches

The mission represents a rare public announcement of the launch of SpaceX’s Starshield satellites, a government variant of Starlink satellites. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:24:45 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 6 (12:24:45 a.m. EDT / 0424:45 UTC on Sunday, June 7).

George Ricker, an astronomer and pioneer in space imaging sensor ships at MIT, leads the science team for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.

A European Ariane 5 rocket took off on its first flight of the year Wednesday with a new-generation communications satellite for Intelsat, lighting up the sky over its French Guiana launch base as it arced over the Atlantic Ocean.