Video: SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket at pad 40 (members only)

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched from Tanegashima Island on Wednesday with the Himawari 9 weather observatory bound for a perch more than 22,000 miles above Earth to improve forecasting in the Asia-Pacific. Liftoff of the 17-story rocket from southern Japan occurred at 0620 GMT (2:20 a.m. EDT) Wednesday.

Watch as NASA holds a briefing at the Kennedy Space Center on the four agency technology payloads that are part of the STP-2 mission flying into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The mission broke another record for SpaceX, marking the first time the company has achieved 14 launches in a single month. Liftoff happened Friday at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 UTC on Saturday).