Video: Falcon 9 test-fired before space station cargo launch (members only)

Climbing into a clear night sky, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into space early Thursday with the EchoStar 23 commercial communications satellite from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch came following several stormy days across Florida’s Space Coast. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force happened at 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 UTC).

NASA and Northrop Grumman officials have not set a new target date for the launch of the ICON ionospheric research satellite aboard an air-launched Pegasus XL rocket following a mission abort Wednesday, and it could be weeks before the the long-delayed science probe has another chance to head into orbit off Florida’s east coast.