Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

The Falcon 9 booster for SpaceX’s next mission fired up briefly on a Cape Canaveral launch pad Sunday in a routine pre-flight test before a scheduled launch Friday night to kick off the final flight of the first version of the company’s Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station.

New videos released Wednesday by SpaceX show the payload fairing from the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket plunging back into the atmosphere after launch June 25, trailing a wake of haunting blue super-heated plasma before unfurling a parafoil and landing in the net of an offshore recovery ship.

Recovering from an April failure, Russia successfully launched a Progress cargo ship early Friday loaded with more than three tons of supplies and equipment needed to replenish stockpiles aboard the International Space Station.