Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

SpaceX ignited the engines of its Falcon Heavy at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Jan. 24 as it prepares for the maiden flight of the three-core rocket.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts will ride a Soyuz ferry ship to the International Space Station early Friday, the first step in a record crew rotation requiring two launches and two landings with four different spacecraft in just three weeks.

SpaceX will be aiming to complete its 440th successful booster landing with this mission, using a Falcon 9 first stage booster flying for an 18th time. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is targeting 9:51 p.m. EDT (0151 UTC).