The Falcon 9 rocket’s main engines briefly ignited at launch pad 39A in a standard pre-launch test. This is the second time this booster has test fired its engines on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The first stage first fired at launch complex 40 prior to the CRS-8 space station resupply mission in April last year. It is scheduled to be the first SpaceX rocket to launch a second time when it carries the SES 10 communications satellite into orbit later this week.
Falcon 9
Two Americans, two Saudis launch on commercial astronaut mission
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with more time in space than any other American, rocketed back into orbit for the fourth time Sunday, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida with a fare-paying investor and private pilot, and the first two Saudi Arabian astronauts to fly to the International Space Station.
Mission Reports
