Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Psyche on mission to a metal asteroid

The launch continues SpaceX’s advancement of the rocket, which is key not only to its ambitions, but also to NASA’s Artemis program. Liftoff from Starbase is set for 7 a.m. CDT (1200 UTC), the start of a 30-minute launch window.

Elon Musk’s space transport company — chartered with a long-term goal of colonizing Mars — plans to send the first commercial mission to the red planet as soon as 2018, SpaceX announced Wednesday.

Days after SpaceX opened preorders for Starlink internet service, two more Falcon 9 rockets are set to launch from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as Sunday night and Wednesday morning — weather permitting — to help push the network closer to commercial operations.