A towering Falcon 9 rocket sporting engine and computer upgrades successfully delivered a cache of research payloads to orbit Sunday, christening a new launch pad on California's picturesque coastline and opening the spigot for a torrent of launches in the company's $3 billion backlog.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the Falcon 9 rocket accomplished all of its primary objectives on today's launch, placing its payloads in an accurate orbit over Earth's poles and successfully demonstrating the launcher's upgraded engines, flight computer and stage separation system.

But two secondary objectives on the flight were not met.

SpaceX programmed the Falcon 9's first stage to fire its engines two more times after separating from the Falcon 9 upper stage about three minutes after liftoff.

The first burn went well, placing the empty rocket stage on a trajectory back into the atmosphere. Musk said mission control received data from the rocket throughout re-entry, but a second engine restart put the rocket into a spin, causing its engine to prematurely cut off. The stage crash into the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles south of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Going into the flight, Musk put low odds on a successful retrieval of the first stage intact on Sunday's launch. He told reporters a few minutes ago that recovery crews picked up parts of the Falcon 9's interstage, engine section and composite overwrapped pressure vessels.

After releasing the mission's satellite payloads, the Falcon 9's second stage Merlin 1D engine was supposed to reignite to test its ability to restart in space. But the engine detected a problem during the restart and aborted the burn.

Musk said SpaceX engineers believe they understand the problem and it could be fixed in time for the Falcon 9's next launch with the SES 8 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The SES 8 mission requires two upper stage burns to put the spacecraft into an oval-shaped geostationary transfer orbit.

The Cassiope team reports the six-sided satellite had a nominal separation and is healthy in orbit following its first ground station pass over Antarctica.

The team in charge of DANDE, one of the Falcon 9's secondary payloads, reports a good separation of all the satellites carried aboard the rocket.

Cornell University confirms its CUSat technical demo satellite separated from the Falcon 9 rocket. We're still waiting on official word on the mission's other payloads.

The first communications pass of the MDA Corp. Cassiope satellite is expected about 30 minutes after liftoff over Germany's O'Higgins ground station in Antarctica.

John Insprucker, the Falcon 9 product manager at SpaceX, says the flight looked great. The rocket flew down the middle of the ground track and appeared to reach the planned orbit, he said.

We're standing by for word on separation of the mission's six passengers and the outcome of the first stage re-entry and splashdown experiment.

The Falcon 9 second stage has flown over the horizon from Vandenberg Air Force Base, putting the rocket in a planned loss of signal period while the upper stage begins maneuvers to release its six satellites passengers, beginning with the Cassiope satellite at T+plus 14 minutes, 15 seconds.

"That was a little bit better than we predicted," said a member of the SpaceX launch team.

Second stage shutdown confirmed!

T+plus 8 minutes. SpaceX says the first stage engines are reigniting right now to guide the spent rocket to a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

About one minute until the second stage Merlin engine is supposed to shut down as the vehicle reaches orbit. The rocket is aiming for an orbit with a low point of about 186 miles, a high point of 932 miles, and an inclination of 80 degrees.

T+plus 7 minutes, 20 seconds. The vehicle remains in a nominal trajectory. Altitude now is 310 kilometers.

T+plus 5 minutes, 20 seconds. Everything reported to be going well with this second stage engine firing. The Merlin vacuum engine uses an ultra-thin niobium nozzle extension for greater efficiency in the upper atmosphere.

Downrange distance is 383 kilometers south of Vandenberg.

T+plus 4 minutes. Flying for the first time, the SpaceX-built payload fairing has separated as planned.

T+plus 3 minutes, 20 seconds. The Falcon 9 first stage engines have cut off, the stages have separated, and the rocket's second stage Merlin vacuum engine has ignited for its approximately six-minute firing to reach orbital velocity.

T+plus 2 minutes. Now soaring at an altitude of more than 20 miles, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage will shut down and jettison in about one minute. Two engines will be turned off first, followed a few moments later by the remaining seven engines.

T+plus 1 minute. The Falcon 9 rocket is approaching the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

LIFTOFF of SpaceX's next-generation Falcon 9 rocket, proving new designs for higher performance and improved efficiency while delivering Canada's Cassiope space weather research satellite to orbit

T-minus 60 seconds and counting. In the final minute of the countdown, the flight computer will command checks of the first stage Merlin engine steering system and the Falcon 9 propellant tanks will be pressurized for flight. Thousands of gallons of water from the ground facility's Niagara system will also be dumped onto the launch pad deck to suppress the sound and acoustics of liftoff.

The command to start the ignition sequence for the first stage will be issued at T-minus 3 seconds, triggering the Merlin engines' ignitor moments before the powerplants actually ramp up to full power.

T-minus 90 seconds and counting. The SpaceX launch director and the Air Force Western Range have given their final approvals for liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT; 1600 GMT).

T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The rocket's destruct system is on internal power and being armed, and liquid oxygen topping is being terminated.

The strongback is now in the launch position a few degrees away from the rocket.

The second stage thrust vector steering system has checked out and is ready for flight.

T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The rocket's destruct system is on internal power and being armed, and liquid oxygen topping is being terminated.

The strongback is now in the launch position a few degrees away from the rocket.

The second stage thrust vector steering system has checked out and is ready for flight.

T-minus 5 minutes and counting.

T-minus 6 minutes and counting. The Falcon 9 rocket is now operating on internal power.

The strongback umbilical tower will soon be lowered a few degrees to clear the rocket for launch. The procedure begins with opening of cradles gripping the rocket at attach points, then hydraulics lower the tower.

T-minus 7 minutes and counting. Within the next minute, the Falcon 9's flight computer will be commanded to its alignment state. The Merlin engine pumps are continuing to chill down.

The launch danger area around Vandenberg is clear for launch.

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. Good chilldown continues on the first stage engines, and closeouts of the upper stage's gaseous nitrogen attitude control system are underway.

T-minus 9 minutes and counting. Prevalves leading to the Falcon 9's Merlin 1D first stage engines are opening, permitting super-cold liquid oxygen to flow into the engines to condition them for ignition.

T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The terminal countdown autosequence has started. Any hold after this point will result in an automatic abort.

T-minus 11 minutes and counting. Here are some statistics on today's launch:

• 6th Falcon 9 launch
• 11th launch of Falcon family
• 1st launch of Falcon 9 v1.1
• 4th launch from Vandenberg AFB in 2013

T-minus 12 minutes. The launch team has verified all consoles are go for liftoff at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT; 1600 GMT).

T-minus 17 minutes and counting. The Falcon 9 rocket stands 224 feet tall and measures 12 feet in diameter. At liftoff, its nine Merlin 1D first stage engines will generate about 1.3 million pounds of thrust.

T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The final poll of the launch team will begin at T-minus 13 minutes before the countdown enters the final phase.

T-minus 25 minutes. All downrange tracking stations report they are ready to support today's launch, and winds aloft remain acceptable for liftoff. Follow tonight's launch with this timeline of major events.

Cassiope has fully charged its batteries for launch. The first acquisition of signal from Cassiope should be about 30 minutes after liftoff over the O'Higgins ground station operated by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).

Liquid oxygen topping continues on the Falcon 9 rocket's first and second stages.

See our Facebook page for quick images of today's countdown to launch!

If you're not seeing the live video stream above this text, refresh this page.

T-minus 40 minutes. No problems reported in the countdown. Ground systems, the launch vehicle, the Cassiope payload and the weather are all cooperating for an on-time launch this morning.

Forecasters predict a zero percent chance of weather violating launch commit criteria. And upper level winds are currently green.

T-minus 60 minutes. Today's launch will test a new paradigm for SpaceX, which hopes to one day recover the first stages of Falcon 9 rockets intact, refurbish them, and then relaunch the stages on new missions.

SpaceX developed a Grasshopper rocket testbed to do short hops at the company's Texas test facility, taking off and flying up to 1,000 feet in altitude, then returning to a landing pad with a vertical rocket-assisted touchdown on spidery landing legs.

Once the first stage finishes its job on this flight, SpaceX has programmed three of the nine first stage Merlin 1D engines reignite and slow down the stage to reduce the forces on the vehicle as it plunges back into the thick lower atmosphere.

SpaceX beefed up the first stage heat shield to help it survive the dynamic pressures of falling back into the atmosphere from its burnout point about 60 miles high.

Then, if all goes well, the rocket's center engine will ignite again moments before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, nulling out the first stage's vertical velocity to near zero and providing for a gentle splashdown in the sea.

This is the first time such a maneuver has ever been attempted by a flown space launcher, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk cautions this is simply a first try. SpaceX hopes to affix landing legs to a Falcon 9 rocket some time next year and try out a vertical "flyback" landing of a first stage near its launch site.

Recovery crews are stationed near the anticipated first stage splashdown zone today to retrieve the stage if it makes it to the sea intact.

Clear skies above the Falcon 9 launch pad tell the weather story this morning. Officials say surface conditions are nearly perfect for an on-time launch, and weather balloons are being launched to monitor winds aloft.

T-minus 90 minutes. The countdown continues tracking toward an on-time liftoff at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT; 1600 GMT).

Today's launch a demo flight for SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, debuting more powerful engines, a protective payload fairing for satellite passengers, stretched fuel tanks, a more reliable avionics system and a new launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

All of the Falcon 9's previous launches originated from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

Today's flight is from Space Launch Complex 4-East, the former home of the Air Force's Titan 4 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

SpaceX spent nearly $100 million outfitting the pad for the Falcon 9, installing new propellant storage tanks and pumps, building an integration hangar and constructing a massive truss-like transporter/erector system, which services as a rocket hauler between the hangar and the launch mount.

The flight will go south from Vandenberg, flying over the Pacific Ocean just off the California coast.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is now filled with kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants. But the super-cold liquid oxygen will continue to be slowly added into the launcher's first and second stage tanks until a few minutes before liftoff to replace oxidizer that boils away during the countdown.

The weather appears ideal for launch this morning, and there are no issues being worked at this point in the countdown.

The mission's primary payload, Canada's 1,100-pound Cassiope space weather research satellite, is reported to be powered up and healthy.

SpaceX says the webcast of today's launch will begin about 40 minutes prior to liftoff and continue through cutoff of the second stage engine about 10 minutes into the mission.

We will have carry the live webcast on this page.

Everything is on schedule for today's Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Preliminary checks on the 224-foot-tall launcher are underway, and propellants are being loaded into the Falcon 9 rocket. Both stages of the Falcon 9 burn kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Check out a countdown timeline for more details on prelaunch activities.

SpaceX plans to launch a souped-up version of its Falcon 9 rocket Sunday on a proving flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, testing upgraded engines and other systems designed to achieve the company's ambitious manifest of satellite launches, space station resupply missions and crewed expeditions.

The 224-foot-tall rocket, sticking out above the coastal hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is scheduled to blast off at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT; 1600 GMT) at the opening of a three-hour launch window.

The weather forecast is favorable, with an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions Sunday morning. The only concern is with the altitude of the cloud bases over Vandenberg.

Five satellites are mounted on top of the two-stage rocket, including Canada's Cassiope spacecraft equipped with a sensor suite to measure space weather as it dips in and out of the ionosphere, a region of the upper atmosphere where atoms are stripped of electrons by blasts of solar radiation

Read our full story.

We have posted the countdown timeline and launch timeline for Sunday's Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

You can also read about the mission in a press kit released by SpaceX.

SpaceX officials today gave a green light to continue launch preparations for the company's first Falcon 9 rocket launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sunday.

Managers at the launch readiness review discussed the status of the two-stage launcher, ground systems and the mission's payloads.

The launch window opens at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT; 1600 GMT).

The flight marks several firsts for the commercial space transportation company, including the maiden launch of an upgraded version of the Falcon 9 rocket with stretched fuel tanks, more powerful engines and a 5.2-meter payload fairing to enshroud satellites.

It is also the first SpaceX mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a launch site on California's Central Coast, where engineers modified an existing facility used by the U.S. Air Force Titan 4 rocket to be the West Coast home of the Falcon 9.

Canada's Cassiope space weather research and communications demonstration satellite is riding the Falcon 9 rocket into an elliptical near-polar orbit between 155 miles and 900 miles high. Several other secondary passengers are also aboard.

The SpaceX launch team completed fueling tests and two full countdown rehearsals culminating in the ignition of the Falcon 9's Merlin 1D first stage engines for approximately three seconds, wringing out problems with the launch vehicle and ground systems before launch day.

The weather forecast for Sunday calls for generally favorable conditions with an overall 80 percent chance of favorable weather during the launch window, reducing to a 90 percent chance of good conditions by the end of the window.

"Slight ridging builds into the area today, decreasing the winds and increasing stability," Air Force meteorologists wrote in a forecast synopsis. "These conditions will make for favorable weather Sunday.

"We will have mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures in the low to mid 70s with winds primarily out of the west-northwest at 10-15 knots. Upper-level winds will be from the west with the maximum winds near 38,000 ft at 40 knots. The marine layer will attempt to form and increase the chance for a stratus layer over the launch area at T-0, but will clear quickly as morning progresses."

The official outlook calls for scattered stratus clouds with 2/8ths sky coverage between 1,200 and 1,600 feet. Visibility is predicted to be 7 miles, with temperatures between 70 degrees and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

The primary weather concern Sunday is with the cloud base range safety rule, according to the Air Force.

The outlook for Monday worsens slightly with an overall 70 percent chance of violating weather constraints, specifically the cloud bases and visibility rules. Conditions should again improve toward the end of the launch window Monday.

For the second time in a week, SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 rocket fired its engines on a new California launch pad Thursday in one of the final steps before the 22-story launcher is cleared for liftoff on a test flight no earlier than Sept. 29.

Read our full story.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, has posted an update on the status of the upcoming Falcon 9 launch on his Twitter account.

"Will do another static fire of rocket to make sure all is good & AF needs to test ICBMs, so probable launch Sept 29/30," Musk tweeted.

The static fire is scheduled for later this week, perhaps Wednesday, sources said. It will retest the Falcon 9 rocket after several problems cropped up during a hotfire of the launcher's engines Thursday at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The U.S. Air Force Western Range, which controls a network of tracking and communications assets based at Vandenberg, is busy for the next few weeks due to Minuteman ballistic missile testing.

Sources say the next static fire test of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will be Wednesday, with the upgraded launcher's first flight some time later.

The Falcon 9's launch date is still to be determined, according to a source familiar with SpaceX's launch preparations. The test static fire test, in which the Falcon 9's first stage engines are ignited on the launch pad, occurred Thursday.

But engineers noticed several problems in the test firing, which occurred at the end of a full countdown dress rehearsal.

After seeing a few problems during a countdown rehearsal Thursday, SpaceX will attempt another hotfire test of the Falcon 9 rocket on a California launch pad Saturday and delay the slender launcher's liftoff from Sunday, sources said Friday.

SpaceX has not set a new launch date yet, but sources familiar with the launch preparations said a launch Sunday is impossible with the decision to conduct a second hotfire test.

The hotfire is a static engine firing of the Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D first stage engines at the conclusion of a full countdown, including fueling of the two-stage booster with liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants. The rocket remains firmly attached to the launch pad during the engine burn, which is supposed to last several seconds.

SpaceX succeeded in firing the Falcon 9's engines on the pad Thursday, but the company's CEO and chief designer Elon Musk tweeted: "Full thrust achieved on 2 sec static fire. Some anomalies to be investigated, so launch date tbd [to be determined]."

The flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California marks several firsts for the 11-year-old space company.

It is the first launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX's new West Coast launch pad, and it will be the maiden flight of an upgraded version of the rocket named the Falcon 9 v1.1.

The Falcon 9 v1.1 boasts several upgrades to increase its performance to serve SpaceX's growing backlog of payloads awaiting launch. It has more powerful engines and stretched fuel tanks, and the rocket will debut a 17-foot-diameter (5.2-meter) payload fairing developed by in-house by SpaceX.

The fairing shields satellites from prelaunch weather conditions and from airflow as the rocket ascends through the atmosphere. It is jettisoned several minutes into the mission.

SpaceX says the flight is a demonstration mission, but it carries Canada's Cassiope satellite, a small spacecraft to probe space weather and test a courier-like communications relay payload. Five smaller satellites are also hitching a ride.

SpaceX has completed five successful launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., of a predecessor rocket known as the Falcon 9 v1.0.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer posted an update on his Twitter account this morning.

"Full thrust achieved on 2 sec static fire," Musk tweeted. "Some anomalies to be investigated, so launch date tbd [to be determined]."

SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 rocket briefly fired nine Merlin 1D engines on the launch pad Thursday, but engineers will review data from the prelaunch static fire test before confirming the mission's targeted Sunday launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, sources familiar with SpaceX's launch preparations said.

Read our full story.

Today's countdown has been halted two times in the final minutes before the Falcon 9 rocket's nine Merlin 1D engines were supposed to ignite. There is no word yet whether another attempt will be made today.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, just tweeted about today's Falcon 9 activities. "About to static fire Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base," he said.

We are waiting on an update on the outcome of the static fire.

Today's planned Falcon 9 engine static fire in California was scrubbed, according to a source familiar with SpaceX's launch preparations.

SpaceX plans to put its next-generation Falcon 9 rocket through a crucial ground test as soon as Wednesday at the launcher's new West Coast launch pad in California.

The preflight engine static fire, a standard test before all Falcon 9 launches to date, is a chance to test the two-stage rocket, its launch pad and SpaceX's launch team.

It carries added importance for SpaceX's upcoming first launch of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, which features more powerful Merlin 1D engines, stretched tanks to add fuel capacity, and a lightweight 17-foot-diameter payload fairing made of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core.

The new version of SpaceX's rocket, dubbed the Falcon 9 v1.1, clusters nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage. The kerosene-burning engines are arranged in a circular pattern with a single engine at the center of the first stage, collectively generating 1.3 million pounds of thrust at sea level.

A single Merlin 1D engine optimized for performance in vacuum powers the Falcon 9 v1.1 second stage.

The static fire is also the first time engines will ignite on SpaceX's new launch pad at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch complex was formerly the West Coast home of the U.S. Air Force's Titan 4 rocket.

SpaceX leases another former Titan 4 pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for East Coast launches.

The nine first stage engines will only fire for a few seconds - and the rocket will remain firmly attached to the launch pad - but the test will give engineers data on how the rocket and ground systems functioned during the final countdown. SpaceX already put the Falcon 9 v1.1 through a wet dress rehearsal, in which controllers oversaw the loading of the two-stage rocket with liquid oxygen and kerosene before aborting the countdown moments before a simulated liftoff.

If the rocket and ground systems look healthy, SpaceX could press on with plans for launch of the 23-story rocket as soon as Sunday, Sept. 15. The launch window opens at 1600 GMT (12 p.m. EDT; 9 a.m. PDT).

The mission's payloads, including Canada's Cassiope ionospheric research satellite, are already mounted inside the Falcon 9's aerodynamic shroud awaiting launch.

Check back later for a report on the static fire and complete mission coverage.