Photos: Falcon takes flight

The mission will test a host of changes made to both the launch vehicle and the launch infrastructure as SpaceX prepares to support the Artemis 3 mission in 2027.

The Starlink 10-23 mission was SpaceX’s 260th orbital flight from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff occurred on Monday, June 23, at 1:58 a.m. EDT (0558 UTC).

United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral hoisted a Centaur upper stage on top of an Atlas 5 rocket Friday at launch pad 41, completing the initial build-up of the launch vehicle slated to carry Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule into space in December on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.