Video: Press conference following Falcon launch and landing

The Starlink 11-19 mission was SpaceX’s 50th launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2025. Liftoff from pad Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 12:24 p.m. PDT (3:24 p.m. EDT / 1924 UTC).

International Space Station commander Jeff Williams set a new U.S. space endurance record Wednesday, his 521st day in orbit over four missions, eclipsing the 520-day record set earlier this year by astronaut Scott Kelly at the end of his nearly one-year stay aboard the lab complex.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule were raised vertical at launch pad 39A in Florida late Thursday, setting the stage for a launch day dress rehearsal Friday with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken — the veteran space fliers assigned to the Crew Dragon’s first piloted mission later this year — before a critical in-flight test of the ship’s emergency escape system Saturday.