Video: Falcon 9 test-fired before space station cargo launch (members only)

Closing out a 30-day mission, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station on Monday for a fiery trip back to Earth, culminating in re-entry back into the atmosphere and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles.

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.

The mission saw the 570th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket to date. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 2:44 a.m. EST (0744 UTC).