Photos: Atlas 5 launches new weather observer

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday that a “relatively small” methane leak caused the explosion of the company’s latest Starship test rocket last week on an experimental flight over South Texas.

Ready for a resupply run to the International Space Station, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Wednesday ahead of a planned liftoff with more than 5,700 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies.

The change comes days after the mission’s previous commander was promoted to lead NASA’s Astronaut Office. NASA and Boeing are also reducing the required number of missions to the International Space Station from six down to four.