SpaceX conducts engine test fire for communications satellite launch (members only)

With five side-mounted solid rocket boosters for added power, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully deployed the U.S. Navy’s fifth MUOS mobile communications satellite.

NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch a robotic mission in July 2022 to explore Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The Psyche probe is NASA’s first mission assigned to fly on SpaceX’s heavy-lift launcher.

The Starlink 11-4 mission was the 111th orbital launch for SpaceX from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff happened at 3:02 p.m. PST (6:02 p.m. EST, 2302 UTC).