Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites (members only)

SpaceX test-fired its next Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday in preparation for the company’s 17th launch of the year, a mission tentatively set for liftoff Wednesday with a secretive payload named Zuma for the U.S. government.

The USSF-62 mission will feature the first National Security Space Launch mission using flight-proven payload fairings. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:25 a.m. PDT (10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 UTC).

Passing a major pre-flight milestone ahead of a launch and landing planned early Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited its main engines Wednesday for a hold-down firing at Cape Canaveral.