Photos: Falcon takes flight

The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) rocket lifted off at 8:18 p.m. EDT (0018 GMT) from Cape Canaveral in service to the U.S. military’s Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite constellation.

In this time-lapse video, a Falcon Heavy rocket is lifted into position atop launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in readiness for a pre-flight test firing of its 27 Merlin main engines.

The media briefing came after the agency formally pushed back the launch of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station from mid-August to late-September.