Drone’s view of Sunday’s SpaceX rocket landing

A Japanese resupply freighter and its H-2B rocket booster rolled out of the vehicle assembly building at the Tanegashima Space Center just before sunrise Friday for the half-hour trip to the launch pad.

The mission will launch the first big block upgrade to the rocket since its first flight in 2023. Liftoff from SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in southern Texas is set for 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).

SpaceX began erecting a new hangar at a former space shuttle launch pad in Florida last week, moving the historic facility closer to launching astronauts again.