Live coverage: Falcon 9 blasts off with X-37B mini-shuttle

Returning to port late Thursday under the cover of darkness, SpaceX’s rocket recovery platform has moored at a dock in Jacksonville, Florida, for unloading of charred debris from Tuesday’s crash landing of a Falcon 9 booster.

The Falcon 9 booster that dramatically flew back to Earth last month following a commercial satellite launch ignited again Friday in a hold-down test at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch pad, days before the company is due to launch its next mission from California, officials said.

The Starlink 10-27 mission was the 280th orbital launch for SpaceX from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:53 a.m. EDT (1053 UTC).