Time-lapse: Falcon 9 lifted vertical on pad 39A (members only)

In this time-lapse video, the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon atop rolls to launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for the first time on January 3. The rocket was then lifted vertical for a series of fit checks and tests.

Forecasters will be watching clouds and rain showers during the countdown before Monday’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite.

SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.