Watch as SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 ahead of Starlink launch (members only)

A new solid rocket motor built by Northrop Grumman has aced its final test-firing before a scheduled debut on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight next year.

The four-person crew will launch onboard Dragon Endeavour from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It will be the first time a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has flown for a sixth time.

SpaceX readied a Falcon 9 rocket for takeoff Monday to launch a planet-hunting satellite for NASA that will monitor the light from countless stars to find potentially habitable planets worthy of follow-up studies by more powerful ground- and space-based observatories.