Video: SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket at pad 40 (members only)

SpaceX launched its 12th Falcon 9 rocket of the year Thursday from California with Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite. The two-stage rocket lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT (2:51 p.m. EDT; 1851 GMT) and deployed the Taiwanese-built spacecraft into polar orbit. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully landed on a drone ship downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

After a two-week delay to evaluate a concern with Falcon 9 rocket engines, NASA and SpaceX have set Nov. 14 as the target launch date for the first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, kicking off a half-year expedition in orbit for three U.S. astronauts and a veteran Japanese space flier.

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, now in the second half of his mission to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship, glimpsed the commercial crew capsule from a unique viewpoint at the far end of the station’s solar power truss during a pair of recent spacewalks.