Photos: Falcon takes flight

An experiment-carrying, reusable mini space shuttle operated by the U.S. Air Force will be boosted into Earth orbit Wednesday atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

The mission will bring the total number of orbital launches from Florida in 2024 to 72, tying the total for 2023. Liftoff happened on Wednesday at 5:47 p.m. EDT (2147 UTC) from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Check out more imagery of Saturday’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, including pictures from remote cameras at the launch pad and new video released by the U.S. Air Force.