Live coverage: H-2A rocket blasts off with latest Japanese weather satellite

Fully fueled for a flight to the International Space Station later this month, SpaceX transferred the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spaceship Thursday to a hangar near pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for attachment to its Falcon 9 launcher.

A Falcon 9 rocket was raised into position at pad 39A on Sunday for a customary test firing of its nine first stage Merlin engines. The rocket is being readied for a launch Thursday with a Dragon capsule carrying supplies to the International Space Station.

After launching Nov. 23 and arriving in lunar orbit over the weekend, China’s Chang’e 5 sample return mission landed on the moon Tuesday, targeting a volcanic region in the Oceanus Procellarum region. On Thursday, the craft’s ascender vehicle took off to begin the trip back to Earth, followed by a successful docking with the mission’s return vehicle in lunar orbit Saturday.