Videos: Previewing SpaceX’s eighth International Space Station resupply launch

SpaceX engineers have narrowed the cause of last week’s unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 rocket booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean on a commanding issue with an engine throttle valve, according to Elon Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive.

The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that SpaceX is now eligible to compete for launches of U.S. national security satellites, closing a tumultuous chapter in the U.S. rocket industry and ending the Pentagon’s sole reliance on United Launch Alliance to haul military payloads into orbit.

This was the third satellite launched by SpaceX for the broadcast radio corporation. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at the opening of the 90-minute launch window at 11:10 a.m. EST (1610 UTC).