Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

Ten days after the last liftoff from historic launch pad 39A in Florida, another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited its Merlin main engines for several seconds in a hold-down firing Thursday ahead of a planned expendable flight next week with an Inmarsat communications satellite.

An eight-ton cargo ship destined for the International Space Station was hoisted aboard its United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur booster rocket today in preparation for liftoff to the orbiting laboratory next week.

Aiming for reusability, Rocket Lab has demonstrated the mid-air recovery of a booster test article in a key test before rigging the first stage of the company’s Electron launcher with a parachute on missions beginning later this year.