Watch the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch the EchoStar 23 satellite

Construction crews at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad are busily repairing and upgrading the facility after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded there last year, with the pad’s return to service scheduled before the end of the summer, clearing the way for final preparations for the triple-core Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight late this year.

The Starlink 9-17 mission featured the 350th booster landing to date. Liftoff happened at 6:50 a.m. PDT (9:50 a.m. EDT, 1350 UTC).

A broadband communications satellite for Paris-based Eutelsat — built on a new Thales Alenia Space all-electric design with xenon plasma thrusters — and an Indian broadcasting spacecraft are fastened to the top of an Ariane 5 launcher for liftoff Thursday from French Guiana.