Watch the Falcon 9 test fire its engines ahead of Starlink launch (members only)

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT) Tuesday on the company’s first mission dedicated to the newly-established U.S. Space Force. The Falcon 9 carried a GPS navigation satellite into orbit.

SES, the international communications satellite operator, plans to send two more C-band television broadcasting spacecraft into orbit from Cape Canaveral Friday night atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a mission that will help clear spectrum for transition to 5G network services.

A total of 11 spacecraft will be deployed beginning about 1.5 hours after liftoff. SpaceX is aiming to launch the mission from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 23 at 11:13 a.m. PDT (2:13 p.m. EDT, 1813 UTC).