Video: Falcon 9 test-fired before fourth Starlink launch (members only)

The mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base was the seventh flight for the NRO in 2024 and included 20 Starlink satellites. Liftoff from pad 4 East occurred at 12:10 a.m. PST (3:10 a.m. EST, 0810 UTC).

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday from Cape Canaveral with 143 small satellites, a record number of spacecraft on a single mission, giving a boost to startup space companies and stressing the U.S. military’s tracking network charged with sorting out the locations of all objects in orbit.

The mission saw the 570th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket to date. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 2:44 a.m. EST (0744 UTC).