The launch is the first of two Starlink missions planned for the day. SpaceX has scheduled a second launch with 24 satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:55 p.m. PDT local (11:55 p.m. EDT or 0355 GMT on July 27).

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket in the early hours of Saturday morning from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The launch takes place on a milestone date, marking 20 years since the STS-114 space shuttle mission took off from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39B. The launch of Discovery on the STS-114 mission on July 26, 2005, marked the return to flight for the space shuttle after the Columbia tragedy investigation.