Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

Watch as a Falcon 9 rocket lights its nine Merlin first-stage engines at pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the 18th launch dedicated to SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite venture.

SpaceX plans to set up landing pads on abandoned launch sites at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base in a step toward the company’s vision for eventual recovery and reuse of rocket boosters.

Completing a fast-track, three-hour pursuit of the International Space Station, a Russian Progress supply ship overcame a last-minute misalignment and autonomously linked up with with orbiting research complex Thursday with nearly three tons of fuel, food and supplies.