Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

Standing in front of a shiny full-scale prototype of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle in South Texas, Elon Musk said Saturday night he wants the company’s gigantic next-generation rocket to fly into orbit within six months, a bold schedule that he acknowledged requires “exponential” improvements in design and manufacturing.

SpaceX continued launching satellites for the Starlink internet network Friday, sending a Falcon 9 rocket aloft from Cape Canaveral with 56 more older-generation broadband spacecraft as ground teams troubleshoot problems with a batch of upgraded Starlinks launched last month.

SpaceX used its second most launched Falcon 9 booster to launch the Starlink 11-17 mission. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 8:54 p.m. PDT (11:54 p.m. EDT / 0354 UTC).