Video: Press site view of Falcon 9’s launch with the Es’hail 2 satellite (members only)

Two months after a first test-firing ended prematurely, NASA plans to ignite the core stage of the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket again Thursday for an eight-minute burn to confirm it is ready for shipment to the Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations.

The addition of a U.S. Air Force communications satellite has capped the assembly of a 218-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket at Cape Canaveral set for liftoff the evening of March 13.

Skywatchers and early risers across Florida enjoyed dazzling views of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket climbing into space Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. military communications satellite.