Q&A with Elon Musk after SpaceX’s first rocket landing

The launch was the first of about half a dozen missions planned to expand the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:53 p.m. PST (10:53 p.m. EST, 0353 UTC).

Holding up a photo taken by China’s new Mars lander, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warned Congress Wednesday that his agency faces increasingly stiff competition on the high frontier and that sustained funding for a new moon lander, infrastructure upgrades and other critical programs is vital for America’s space program.

SpaceX has postponed Wednesday’s scheduled launch from California’s Central Coast with 64 smallsats, electing to keep the Falcon 9 rocket on the ground until at least Sunday to wait for improved weather conditions.