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

Climbing into a clear night sky, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into space early Thursday with the EchoStar 23 commercial communications satellite from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The U.S. Space Force’s third new-generation GPS 3-series navigation satellite has arrived in Florida for final processing and fueling ahead of a launch currently targeted for April 29 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

This is the sixth consecutive year of increasing orbital launches from the Sunshine State. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-87 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 10:21 p.m. EST (0321 UTC).