Video: Zoomed in view of ignition of Falcon 9 engines in prelaunch test (members only)

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Paz Earth observation payload for Hisdesat, operator of Spain’s governmental satellites.

A Soyuz rocket is standing on the launch pad in Kazakhstan used on Yuri Gagarin’s historic first human spaceflight in 1961, ready to send three people toward the International Space Station.

Succeeding on a one-shot launch attempt before Hurricane Irma shuts down the Cape Canaveral spaceport, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into orbit Thursday with the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane, a reusable robotic mini-shuttle that could stay aloft for years with clandestine on-board experiments.