Live coverage: SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites

A rocket booster SpaceX used to launch a planet-hunting NASA observatory two months ago fired again Saturday at Cape Canaveral, clearing a major pre-flight checkout before blastoff June 29 with a space station supply ship.

Russian commander Alexey Ovchinin, NASA co-pilot Nick Hague and astronaut Christina Koch lifted off aboard a Soyuz rocket Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading for the International Space Station to raise the research outpost’s crew complement back to six. The Soyuz booster launched at 1914 GMT (3:14 p.m. EDT), and docking at the space station occurred at 0101 GMT (9:01 p.m. EDT).

The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base included 13 Starlink satellites that include Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 9:53 p.m. PST (12:53 a.m. EST, 0553 UTC).