A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink 12-17 mission Saturday night (April 12) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center ( KSC ). The Falcon 9 lifted off from KSC's historic Launch Complex-39A at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 on April 13 GMT), carrying a stack of 21 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit ( LEO ).

Starlink is a satellite internet project developed by billionaire Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX. Its goal is to provide high-speed internet access to users around the world. View on euronews

The rocket carrying 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch is set to liftoff at midnight with backup opportunities until 1:59 a.