Watch as SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 ahead of Starlink launch (members only)

The first of up to seven United Launch Alliance missions lifted off Jan. 19 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where a Delta 4-Heavy launcher fired into orbit with 2.1 million pounds of thrust from three hydrogen-fueled RS-68A main engines with a U.S. government spy satellite.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) Wednesday from Cape Canaveral with the GovSat 1 communications satellite, a military-grade craft to relay signals for Luxembourg and allied nations. SpaceX’s launch team scrubbed an attempt Tuesday to replace a transducer on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket and wait for improved weather conditions.

In a significant milestone preparing for liftoff of the world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX test-fired 31 of the booster’s 33 methane-fueled engines Thursday in South Texas as the company eyes a launch attempt as soon as March.