Falcon 9 launches with GovSat 1 as seen from Kennedy Space Center (members only)

The mission is the first that will populate the 13th group of Starlink satellites in SpaceX’s megaconstellation. Liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at 12:24 a.m. EST (0524 UTC).

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship executed a laser-guided rendezvous with the International Space Station early Sunday, delivering an experimental expandable enclosure for attachment to the complex later this month for tests to verify the inflatable design’s suitability for future space habitats.

With a Falcon 9 rocket launch Friday, SpaceX added 57 more satellites to the Starlink broadband fleet and deployed a pair of piggyback commercial Earth-imaging reconnaissance satellites for BlackSky, wrapping up a busy week that began with SpaceX’s return of two NASA astronauts to Earth and the first low-altitude test flight of the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle.