Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket fired up for hold-down test

The Starlink 10-57 mission is also SpaceX’s 80th launch this year carrying Starlink satellites to low Earth obit. It’s targeting liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 8:32 a.m. EDT (1232 UTC).

Virgin Orbit is setting modest expectations ahead of the company’s first attempt to reach orbit with a liquid-fueled air-launched rocket, emphasizing a hunger for flight data on the test launch, which could occur as soon as Monday off the coast of Southern California.

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral on Saturday evening, clearing the way for a delayed liftoff with the Israeli-owned Amos 17 commercial communications satellite as soon as Tuesday, assuming SpaceX can work its way into a busy schedule before a previously-planned Atlas 5 launch this week on the U.S. Air Force’s Eastern Range.