Live coverage: China launches three-man crew to Tiangong space station

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to roll out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first time next month for a hold-down firing of its 27 Merlin main engines, but the mega-rocket’s inaugural test launch will slip into January, officials confirmed Tuesday.

SpaceX will perform a multi-hour experiment on the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket after the launcher deploys a Dragon supply ship on the way to the International Space Station Thursday, gathering thermal data and other information to verify the vehicle’s ability to perform long-duration missions and inject payloads into demanding, high-energy orbits.

Isolated camera views from various locations around Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center show the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifting off Tuesday with the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter bound for the International Space Station.