Live coverage: Dragon supply ship back on Earth

A full-size prototype of SpaceX’s Starship violently exploded in South Texas moments after a test-firing of its Raptor engine Friday, dealing a setback to the company’s next-generation reusable rocket program.

Forecasters predict mostly cloudy conditions and a chance of light rain for Tuesday morning’s scheduled takeoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a space station-bound supply ship, with a 40 percent chance weather could prevent liftoff during an instantaneous predawn launch opportunity.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in the history of space exploration. Depressurizing the spacecraft will begin around 2:23 a.m. EDT (0623 UTC) and a scaffold-like “Skywalker” assembly extending just above the hatch will be used for stability.