Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

The mission is the 40th launch of the year from SpaceX, dedicated to flying its broadband internet satellites. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-14 mission happened at 8:23:09 p.m. PDT (11:23:09 p.m. EDT / 0323:09 UTC).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:50 a.m. EDT (0550 GMT) Sunday with the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite, a powerhouse spacecraft designed to beam broadband and in-flight WiFi signals across the Americas and the North Atlantic. The rocket’s first stage successfully landed at sea aboard SpaceX’s drone ship.

Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries has purchased a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch in 2017 with a mash-up of satellites in the first such commercial arrangement for a rideshare mission on a U.S. launcher, the company announced Wednesday.