Video: Falcon 9 fires up engines for static fire test (members only)

A flight demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could be used to retrieve reusable engines from United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket, and for the delivery of heavier cargo to the surface of Mars, is planned for launch in late 2021 or early 2022 as a piggyback payload on an Atlas 5 rocket with a NOAA weather satellite.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, standing 208 feet tall, is mounted on a Cape Canaveral launch pad for liftoff with a fresh package of supplies and research experiments for the International Space Station.

Chinese rockets performed two satellite delivery missions in a three-hour span Wednesday, carrying a commercial Earth-imaging satellite and five mysterious surveillance payloads into orbit.