Live coverage: SpaceX supply ship returns to Earth

The Starlink 12-18 mission included 13 satellites that have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:53 p.m. EST (1853 UTC).

A long-delayed Russian science module was transported by train from Moscow to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month for a final series of electrical tests and outfitting before launch to the International Space Station next year.

SpaceX is set to end a two-month launch drought at Cape Canaveral with a blastoff Thursday night carrying a privately-funded Israeli moon lander, an Indonesian communications satellite and a U.S. Air Force surveillance payload into orbit.