Live coverage: SpaceX readies next Falcon 9 for liftoff

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff as soon as Sunday with the company’s fifth batch of Starlink broadband satellites.

Closing out a 27-hour pursuit after a predawn launch from Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule glided to an automated docking early Sunday at the International Space Station, accomplishing one of the ship’s key test objectives before astronauts take a ride later this year.

A modified Russian missile built for nuclear war blasted off on a peaceful mission Friday, targeting placement of a European Earth observation satellite in orbit to measure atmospheric chemistry and global air quality. Liftoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia occurred at 0927 GMT (5:27 a.m. EDT).