4K Video: Watch the Falcon 9 test fire its 1st stage engines (members only)

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, with 51 small satellites, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles heading into polar orbit on the Transporter 7 mission. Liftoff occurred at 11:48 p.m. PDT Friday (2:48 a.m. EDT; 0648 UTC Saturday).

Prior to launch, SpaceX sent 656 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit so far this year. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-55 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 UTC).

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at 5:39 p.m. EDT (2139 GMT). The commercial booster is hauling up the Thaicom 8 television broadcasting satellite from Cape Canaveral. The rocket’s first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s recovery platform in the Atlantic Ocean.