Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

Two communications spacecraft built by Boeing and owned by Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite will ride a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Sunday, and these pictures show the satellites stacked together and prepared for liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk briefed reporters on the status of the Falcon Heavy test flight, and several of the company’s other projects, shortly after the huge rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Starlink 10-34 mission was SpaceX’s 80th Falcon 9 launch of the year. Liftoff from pad 40 occurred at 12:26 a.m. EDT (0426 UTC).