Falcon 9 launches TESS as seen from KSC Press Site (members only)

Photos captured by remote cameras placed at launch pad 39A show SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket soaring skyward Thursday evening atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

U.S. and Russian vehicles ferrying crews and cargo will continue traveling to and from the International Space Station this month, sustaining the orbiting lab in its 20th year of continuous human occupation amid an escalating pandemic on Earth.

The Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation is expected to deliver global coverage beginning in 2027. Launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 7:12 a.m. PDT (10:12 a.m. EDT / 1412 UTC).