KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched its first commercial payload aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, the company's largest and most powerful.
- WATCH LIVE: JUMP TO LIVE STREAM ▼
- SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted off at top of launch window
- All 3 boosters landed as planned: 2 on land, 1 on drone ship
- LAST YEAR: 5 things we learned from Elon Musk on Falcon Heavy launch
- Get more space coverage here
The company had planned to launch the 230-foot-tall Falcon Heavy on Wednesday night, but upper-level winds pushed the launch back.
The Falcon Heavy lifted off at the top of the launch window 6:35 p.m. EST.
SpaceX's second Falcon Heavy rocket is carrying a satellite the size of a bus — the Arabsat 6A satellite is 13,000 pounds.
The satellite, owned by the Saudi Arabian company Arabsat, will provide high-speed internet and broadband communications.
Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, all three of the Falcon Heavy's rocket boosters landed for the first time. The main booster core landed successfully on the company's drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, while the smaller side boosters landed simultaneously at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a short distance from where they launched.
Sonic booms could be heard up and down Florida's Space Coast.
Falcon Heavy's first flight was a February 6, 2018 test launch that carried CEO Elon Musk's cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space. The side boosters landed without a hitch, but the main booster core landed awkwardly on the drone ship, damaging the ship and falling into the water.