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

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts to the International Space Station in November broke the record Sunday for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crew vehicle, surpassing the 84-day mark set by an Apollo capsule on the final flight to the Skylab space station in 1974.

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle blasted off and successfully deployed a military electronic surveillance satellite and 28 nanosatellites for companies in the United States, Lithuania, Spain and Switzerland at two different altitudes Monday, before the rocket’s upper stage began an extended mission as a solar-powered experiment platform in low Earth orbit.

The mission featured Luxembourg’s NAOS satellite along with seven other secondary satellites. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:53 a.m. PDT (2:53 p.m. EDT / 1853 UTC).