Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

SpaceX ground crews at Kennedy Space Center’s Apollo-era launch complex 39A are putting the 156-foot-tall Falcon 9 first stage booster that flew to space and back Dec. 21 through a thorough inspection, setting the stage for a hold-down test firing at the launch pad.

A Falcon 9 rocket booked to launch a commercial communications satellite for Hispasat, a Madrid-based telecom company, fired its nine main engines late Tuesday night at Cape Canaveral for a pre-flight hold-down test.

NASA and industry teams at Cape Canaveral launched an Orion capsule on a three-minute atmospheric test flight Tuesday to prove the spaceship’s ability to escape from an exploding rocket during launch, demonstrating a key safety feature before astronauts ride the vehicle into deep space. Liftoff occurred at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).