Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket flew its 300th mission on Thursday Feb. 16, lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1:34 p.m. PST (4:34 p.m. EST, 2134 UTC) carrying another batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink internet service.

NASA announced Friday a mix of spaceflight veterans and rookie astronauts who will launch on the first flights of new Boeing and SpaceX commercial spaceships starting as soon as next spring, several months later than previously scheduled.

The mission was the 12th launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket to date. The rocket lifted off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC) on Wednesday, April 29.