Photos: Falcon takes flight

SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.

The launch comes as the commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, is preparing for an on-orbit demonstration of the satellite internet service. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:45 p.m. PDT (9:45 p.m. EDT, 0145 UTC).

Unfavorable high-altitude winds above Cape Canaveral on Tuesday kept a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket loaded with a NOAA space weather observatory on the ground another day.