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

Overcoming 50-50 weather odds, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Thursday morning on its 44th Starlink delivery mission of the year. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 1:36 a.m. EDT (0536 UTC), the fourth launch opportunity of the window.

The Starlink 10-57 mission is also SpaceX’s 80th launch this year carrying Starlink satellites to low Earth obit. It’s targeting liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 8:32 a.m. EDT (1232 UTC).

Ground crews could face months of cleanup and repairs to SpaceX’s primary launch pad at Cape Canaveral after a rocket explosion wrecked the facility last week, but officials said that other pads in Florida and California could support Falcon 9 flights when the booster is ready to blast off again.