Photos: California’s predawn liftoff of Atlas 5 rocket

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off at 0541 GMT (1:41 a.m. EDT) Thursday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, carrying a new Russian weather satellite and 32 secondary payloads into polar orbit.

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday afternoon at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, clearing a major hurdle before it launches Saturday night — weather permitting — with a four-person crew heading for the International Space Station.

SpaceX deployed 60 more Starlink internet-beaming spacecraft into orbit after a fiery late-night blastoff of a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday night from Cape Canaveral, surpassing the 1,500-satellite mark since Starlink launches began. Another Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to haul the next batch of Starlink satellites to space next week.