Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with fifth set of Iridium Next satellites

SpaceX currently has more than 9,500 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-19 mission from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:53:20 a.m. PST (12:53:20 p.m. EST / 1753:20 UTC).

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from French Guiana with four broadband satellites for the O3b network, which provides high-speed connectivity to developing countries, ships and other customers who lack a reliable Internet link.

Launching with two communications satellites to broadcast television to Brazilian homes and connect the islands of Indonesia, an Ariane 5 rocket blasted off from a space base at the northern edge of the Amazon jungle Tuesday, the first of seven planned flights by the European-built booster this year.