Video: Falcon 9 fires engines at pad 39A ahead of Es’hail 2 launch (members only)

The Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars next month aced a countdown rehearsal Monday at Cape Canaveral, helping ensure the United Launch Alliance-built rocket is ready for liftoff during the rover’s 23-day launch window.

The result of last week’s inaugural test flight of Rocket Lab’s Electron satellite launcher from New Zealand, which reached space but was unable to enter orbit, positions the company for two more demonstration missions in the coming months before the privately-operated booster enters commercial service by the end of the year, Rocket Lab’s chief executive said.

A faulty support strut inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage liquid oxygen tank likely broke free during a June 28 space station resupply launch, destroying the booster minutes after liftoff in a cloud of debris over the Atlantic Ocean, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said Monday.