Live coverage: SpaceX finally launches Falcon 9 rocket

The mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base was the seventh flight for the NRO in 2024 and included 20 Starlink satellites. Liftoff from pad 4 East occurred at 12:10 a.m. PST (3:10 a.m. EST, 0810 UTC).

Weather conditions at the surface will likely be favorable for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, but upper level winds may pose a roadblock for the start of the company’s next space station resupply mission. SpaceX is targeting liftoff of the Falcon 9 from pad 40 at 12:51 p.m. EST (1751 GMT) Wednesday.

After years of delays, the core stage for NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket rolled out of its New Orleans factory Wednesday, heading for a NASA site in Mississippi for a test-firing before engineers hope to ship the rocket to its Florida launch base by this fall.