Photos: Falcon takes flight

This was the third satellite launched by SpaceX for the broadcast radio corporation. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at the opening of the 90-minute launch window at 11:10 a.m. EST (1610 UTC).

A nearly 180-foot-tall (54.8-meter) Ariane 5 rocket rolled out of its integration hangar to the ELA-3 launch zone Wednesday at the Guiana Space Center in South America, moving into position for liftoff Thursday with two geostationary communications satellites.

Look back on the Oct. 30 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with this gallery of photos showing the 229-foot-tall launcher lifting off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.