Video: Falcon 9 fires engines at pad 39A ahead of Es’hail 2 launch (members only)

The satellite awaiting launch early Saturday from California aboard the final flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket should allow scientists to more precisely track changes in our planet’s ice sheets, using six green laser beams to chart the height and slope of polar ice and glaciers, providing a key input into climate change research.

Fresh off a 64-day test flight to the International Space Station with astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spaceship is back at Cape Canaveral for inspections, refurbishment and upgrades before flying to the station again with a four-person crew next spring.

This video replay shows the Falcon 9 rocket’s flight from liftoff until deployment of the Dragon supply ship, including the dramatic touchdown on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.