Live coverage: SpaceX finally launches Falcon 9 rocket

After two of the last three Vega rocket launches ended in failure, Arianespace launched another Vega launcher from French Guiana at 9:50 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0150 GMT Thursday) with Airbus’s Pléiades Neo 3 commercial Earth observation satellite and five secondary payloads.

The Starlink 6-83 mission will also mark SpaceX’s 100th Falcon 9 launch from Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff is targeted for Tuesday, May 13, at 1:02 a.m. EDT (0502 UTC).

The mission came as SpaceX is preparing to launch a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station later this week. Liftoff of the Starlink 7-16 mission happened at 7:28 p.m. PT (10:28 p.m. ET, 0228 UTC).