Time lapse: Watch the Falcon Heavy placed on pad 39A

SpaceX called off a planned launch attempt Saturday to deploy the next batch of satellites for the Starlink broadband network. Two commercial Earth-observing satellites for BlackSky are also awaiting a ride into orbit on the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission marked the 200th Falcon 9 launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff happened at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 UTC).

The successful launch and landing by the first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Monday was a significant step toward achieving reusability and, eventually, lowering launch costs, but turning that success into operational reality poses a significant challenge for company founder Elon Musk.