Photos: Falcon takes flight

A rocket booster SpaceX used to launch a planet-hunting NASA observatory two months ago fired again Saturday at Cape Canaveral, clearing a major pre-flight checkout before blastoff June 29 with a space station supply ship.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Tuesday at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) with Hispasat 30W-6, a communications satellite to relay video and broadband signals between the Americas, Europe and North Africa.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in the history of space exploration. Depressurizing the spacecraft will begin around 2:23 a.m. EDT (0623 UTC) and a scaffold-like “Skywalker” assembly extending just above the hatch will be used for stability.