Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites (members only)

SpaceX launches its first Dragon capsule into orbit on a demonstration flight for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program on December 8, 2010. (Membership Required)

An early test model of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, which billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says will carry people and cargo to the moon and Mars, briefly left the ground on its first untethered test flight Thursday night powered by the company’s new methane-fueled Raptor engine.

The ability to launch 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites comes from a shift by SpaceX to an “optimized” version of the spacecraft introduced in 2024. Liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is targeting 4:54 a.m. EDT (0854 UTC).