SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 from California on Starlink 13-4 Mission

SpaceX conducted a successful launch of 19 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base using a Falcon 9 rocket, which also potentially carried classified payloads based on the Starshield platform. Meanwhile, a separate SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center was delayed due to weather but remains scheduled for no earlier than 12:09 p.m. ET, with a backup launch opportunity on August 1. The Crew-11 team includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA's Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos's Oleg Platonov. During their mission, the astronauts will conduct scientific research on maintaining astronaut health for future deep-space missions, stem cell production, bacterial infection treatments, and space agriculture. The crew observed a traditional pre-flight card game to ward off bad luck before launch. Falcon 9's first stage for the Crew-11 mission is planned to land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Landing Zone 1.