Live coverage: SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 moved to launch pad for hotfire test

The launch is now targeting no earlier than Friday, Feb. 13, for the launch of Crew-12. Liftoff will be at 5:15 a.m. EST (1015 UTC).

A Japanese communications satellite rode a Falcon 9 rocket into space from Cape Canaveral early Friday, reaching an on-target orbit as the launcher’s first stage booster nailed a high-speed landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean, logging another achievement for SpaceX’s cost-cutting reuse initiative.

SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 booster powered up to full throttle in a brief ignition at the company’s Central Texas test site this week as engineers prepare for the rocket’s return to flight as soon as mid-November with a European communications satellite.