Q&A with Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO

The mission comes as SpaceX continues to ferry four astronauts to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 4, which launched in the predawn hours. Liftoff occurred from pad 40 at 3:54 p.m. EDT (1954 UTC).

Stratolaunch said Friday that the company has “transitioned ownership” a year after the death of Paul Allen, the company’s billionaire founder who funded the construction of the world’s largest airplane for an airborne satellite launcher.

After years of anticipation, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its full-scale Starship rocket Thursday from South Texas, but the mission ended four minutes later as the vehicle veered out of control and self-destructed over the Gulf of Mexico following multiple engine failures.