Watch a time-lapse of the Falcon 9 rocket going vertical

It didn’t go into space, but SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule fired off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a 99-second test flight to demonstrate a crucial safety mechanism that would save astronauts from a catastrophic rocket failure. View photos of the human-rated spacecraft’s first flight.

The last Falcon 9 launch from Florida was back on March 2 marking the longest stretch between Florida launches since an upper stage anomaly caused a launch halt from July 13 through July 27. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-21 mission happened Wednesday, March 12 at 10:35 p.m. EDT (0235 UTC).

SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.