Photos: Falcon 9 vertical on the launch pad

SpaceX fired up a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Wednesday in a pre-flight test for a Starlink satellite launch Sunday, moving closer to the company’s final mission before sending two NASA astronauts into orbit for the first time May 27.

The Commercial Resupply Services-30 (CRS-30) mission featured the first launch of a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from pad 40 since the final first-generation SpaceX cargo ship flew in March 2020.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deployed South Korea’s first dedicated military satellite into orbit Monday a half-hour after a fiery launch from Cape Canaveral, helping fulfill an agreement between Lockheed Martin and the South Korean government in exchange for Korea’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets six years ago.