Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

One of the two Falcon 9 rockets SpaceX planned to take off in a span of less than five hours earlier this week will remain grounded indefinitely, preventing Cape Canaveral from hosting two launches on the same day for the first time in decades. But the military-run Eastern Range was ready for the back-to-back missions, and probably won’t have to wait long for the next chance for a launch doubleheader.

SpaceX test-fired its next Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday in preparation for the company’s 17th launch of the year, a mission tentatively set for liftoff Wednesday with a secretive payload named Zuma for the U.S. government.

For the third time in 10 days, SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Sunday from Florida’s Space Coast with another 60 Starlink internet satellites. This time, SpaceX aims to extend the record for reusing a Falcon 9 booster to nine flights.