Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

After assessing any damage to the spaceport caused by Hurricane Dorian as it narrowly missed Florida’s east coast, NASA says the Kennedy Space Center will reopen for normal operations Friday. Teams rolled the Space Launch System’s mobile launch platform from pad 39B back into the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building last week for safekeeping during the storm.

Photos from the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Monday from Cape Canaveral show the 20-story launcher climbing into a starry sky with the SES 12 communications satellite.

The Starlink 10-40 mission included the 600th Starlink satellite launched so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 5:52:20 a.m. EST (1052:20 UTC).