Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

A $210 million NASA mission to improve air pollution monitoring over North America is set to launch Thursday with an Intelsat communications satellite blasting off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

The Bandwagon-1 mission features 11 satellites, which headed up a 45-degree, mid-inclination orbit. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 UTC).

George Ricker, an astronomer and pioneer in space imaging sensor ships at MIT, leads the science team for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.