SpaceX launches 3 giant BlueBird direct-to-cell satellites on Falcon 9 rocket (video)

A rocket blasts into the black night sky over a launch pad, leaving a plume of white smoke in the wake of its white hot engine fire.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying three of AST SpaceMobile's massive direct-to-cell BlueBird satellites launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:50 a.m. EDT (0650 GMT) on Wednesday, minutes after the opening of its 96-minute window.