Q&A with Martin Halliwell, chief technology officer at SES

SpaceX launched the vehicle on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 6:11 p.m. EDT (2211 UTC). It’s scheduled to be berthed to the ISS by NASA astronaut Jonny Kim on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

Mike Laidley leads development of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system, a rocket the commercial space company hopes will provide a foothold in the lucrative market to launch U.S. military satellites, a business currently dominated by SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.

The Starlink 17-20 mission was the seventh Starlink mission this year. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 9:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. EST / 1730 UTC).