Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

SpaceX conducted the first hold-down firing of an upgraded version of the Falcon 9 rocket Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for launch next week with Bangladesh’s first communications satellite.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy’s family will be watching remotely from halfway around the world when he blasts off April 9 from Kazakhstan to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station.

SpaceX rolled out a reused Falcon 9 booster for a hold-down engine firing Wednesday at pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making the first use of the launch complex since a rocket exploded there in September 2016. The static fire test accomplished Wednesday was a key step in preparations for launch of a space station cargo ship Dec. 12.