Q&A with Elon Musk after SpaceX’s first rocket landing

The Starlink 8-19 mission came at the end of the week kicked off by the launch of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, a Falcon Heavy rocket and two other Falcon 9 rockets. Liftoff happened at 7:31 p.m. EDT (2331 UTC) on Friday, Oct. 18.

The mission marks the largest number of Starlink V2 Mini satellites launched in a single batch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 3:11 p.m. PDT (6:11 p.m. EDT, 2211 UTC).

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with more time in space than any other American, rocketed back into orbit for the fourth time Sunday, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida with a fare-paying investor and private pilot, and the first two Saudi Arabian astronauts to fly to the International Space Station.