Photos: Falcon takes flight

The Starlink 17-12 mission will send the two dozen broadband internet satellites into a polar, low Earth orbit. SpaceX is targeting liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base no earlier than Friday, Sept. 19, at 9:31 a.m. PDT (12:31 p.m. EDT / 1631 UTC).

A malfunction during a drop test over Nevada last month for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon program has engineers re-examining the crew capsule’s parachutes, and Boeing has also encountered parachute failures during testing for its commercial crew capsule, a senior NASA official confirmed Wednesday.

The flight will include 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, of which 13 have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 10:19 a.m. EST (1519 UTC).