Live coverage: SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 moved to launch pad for hotfire test

The Starlink 17-4 mission adds another 24 satellites to the growing megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff occurred Wednesday, August 13, at 10:05 p.m. PDT (1:05 a.m. EDT / 0505 UTC).

A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set to launch the U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite from Cape Canaveral. This timeline shows the major mission events planned over a nearly six-hour flight to an optimized geostationary transfer orbit.

Powering off the planet just after sunset Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral with the multi-mission SES 9 communications satellite to link millions of homes, businesses, ships and airplanes across the Asia-Pacific.