Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

Relive the launches and landings of the Air Force’s X-37B miniature space shuttle on Orbital Test Vehicle missions No.1, No. 2 and No. 3.

A commercial Falcon 9 rocket in the final stages of launch preparations fired its nine Merlin main engines Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, verifying its readiness for liftoff with a Taiwanese Earth-imaging payload Thursday.

A thick marine layer blanketing Vandenberg Air Force Base in California restricted views of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off early Wednesday, but cameras fixed to the launcher provided spectacular imagery of the predawn departure with 10 Iridium satellites on-board.