CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A cluster of space weather satellites blasted off Wednesday morning to cast fresh eyes on solar storms that can produce stunning auroras but also scramble communications and threaten astronauts in flight.

The three satellites soared from Kennedy Space Center shortly after sunrise on the same SpaceX rocket. They aimed for a sun-orbiting lookout 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth, each on its own separate mission.

Altogether, the satellites from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, plus related costs, are worth about $1.6 billion. NASA's Joe Westlake calls it “the ultimate cosmic carpool” by sharing a rocket to save money.

Heading the lineup is NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, the first to be deployed

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