Photos: Falcon takes flight

SpaceX’s next launch, scheduled for no earlier than May 15, will loft dozens of small test satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral for the company’s planned Starlink broadband network, with fully operational Starlink spacecraft to follow on future missions, a senior SpaceX official said Tuesday.

A Falcon 9 rocket fired into a late-night sky Friday night over Cape Canaveral with a Dragon supply ship bound for the International Space Station. Eight minutes later, the booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast for SpaceX’s 50th landing of a Falcon first stage.

The mission, dubbed Maxar 3 by SpaceX, was the third launch of Maxar’s WorldView Legion satellites. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 6:13 p.m. EST (2313 UTC).