Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

SpaceX test-fired its next Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday in preparation for the company’s 17th launch of the year, a mission tentatively set for liftoff Wednesday with a secretive payload named Zuma for the U.S. government.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the EchoStar 23 communications satellite into orbit 34 minutes later.

The mission saw the 570th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket to date. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 2:44 a.m. EST (0744 UTC).