Live coverage: SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket test-fired in Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral shortly after midnight Friday with Intelsat 40e, a communications satellite destined to beam broadband internet signals to airplane and cruise ship passengers across North America while hosting a NASA instrument package to monitor air pollution.

The mission, Starlink 8-8, will add another 13 satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities, bringing the total launched to 64. Liftoff happened at 5:58 a.m. PDT (8:58 a.m. EDT, 1258 UTC).

Five European satellites packaged inside an aerodynamic fairing have joined a Soyuz rocket its launch pad in the French Guiana jungle for a roaring ride into orbit Friday.