Video: Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon briefly ignites engines (members only)

The twin 177-foot-tall solid-fueled boosters for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System have been stacked inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to await arrival of the rocket’s cryogenic core stage, which is set for a second engine test on a firing stand in Mississippi later this month.

The Falcon 9 rocket stands on launch complex 40 on 16 April as SpaceX prepares to launch NASA’s TESS spacecraft on a mission to seek out new planets beyond our Solar System.

SpaceX is gearing up for the first full-up test-firing Thursday of all 33 engines on the booster for the company’s Starship mega-rocket in Texas, a critical milestone on the path to launching the giant vehicle on its first orbital test flight, which could happen as soon as March if this week’s test goes well.