Photos: Falcon takes flight

The Starlink 10-40 mission included the 600th Starlink satellite launched so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 5:52:20 a.m. EST (1052:20 UTC).

A break in thunderstorms streaming across Central Florida allowed a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule to blast off Thursday from Cape Canaveral in pursuit of the International Space Station with a new docking mechanism, a spacesuit and 40 mice acting as high-flying research specimens.

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken give a video tour of their new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as they close in on a docking with the International Space Station on May 31, 2020.