Time-lapse video: The Falcon Heavy goes vertical again

SpaceX launched its 12th Falcon 9 rocket of the year Thursday from California with Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite. The two-stage rocket lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT (2:51 p.m. EDT; 1851 GMT) and deployed the Taiwanese-built spacecraft into polar orbit. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully landed on a drone ship downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

The launch comes as the commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, is preparing for an on-orbit demonstration of the satellite internet service. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:45 p.m. PDT (9:45 p.m. EDT, 0145 UTC).