Live coverage: SpaceX launches Starlink 3-5 mission from California

A commercial module mounted outside the International Space Station last year will remain attached to the orbiting research complex for at least three more years, carrying out additional tests for future space habitats and serving as a storage closet for the lab’s crew.

SpaceX conducted its first launch from Florida in more than two months Thursday, when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center with the Qatari Es’hail 2 communications satellite at 3:46 p.m. EST (2046 GMT). The Falcon 9’s reused first stage landed on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The second Falcon 9 launch of the day was the 71st dedicated Starlink mission of 2024. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 5:10 p.m. EDT (2110 UTC).