Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket fired up for hold-down test

In nearly five years on the job as Boeing’s Space Launch System program manager, John Shannon has presided over the completion of the first SLS core stage inside a cavernous factory in New Orleans.

Blue Origin has conducted the first hotfire test of its BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas, a powerplant fueled by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen that will power the company’s heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and perhaps United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan launcher, officials announced Thursday.

This will be the 50th Dragon vehicle to visit the International Space Station, including the Dragon 1 vehicles that were berthed to the orbiting lab. Docking with the Harmony module is anticipated Monday, Aug. 25, at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 UTC).