Video: Falcon 9 test-fired before space station cargo launch (members only)

On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch of an identical spacecraft off of Europe’s long-delayed Ariane 6 rocket, and is considering bids from other rocket companies.

The mission is set to be the first of a pair of Falcon 9 launches in the span of just a few hours. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for no earlier than 12:00 a.m. EST (0500 UTC) on Nov. 30.

SpaceX plans to launch its next group of Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Tuesday, Jan. 21, from Cape Canaveral, two days after the company is scheduled to launch a modified Falcon 9 booster from a separate facility at the Florida spaceport to test the Crew Dragon spaceship’s emergency escape system.