A Falcon 9 rocket is lifted into position for a planned countdown dress rehearsal at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The rocket is being readied for launch early Sunday with the EchoStar 23 communications satellite. This video runs at 20x normal speed.
Falcon 9
Launch companies, range teams reassessing Cape Canaveral weather rules
Launch companies and U.S. Space Force range officials at Cape Canaveral are reassessing long-standing weather rules, looking at beefing up rocket defenses against lightning, and considering strategies to prepare for two different launch windows on a given day to guard against weather delays, something SpaceX may demonstrate with a Falcon 9 launch early Thursday.
Mission Reports
After “terrific” launch, TESS nears first major orbit-raising burn
NASA’s new planet-hunting TESS observatory completed its first post-launch thruster firing Saturday, setting up for a big boost Wednesday that will send the spacecraft toward the moon for a flyby next month, the next maneuvers in a two-month process to reach the mission’s final science orbit in mid-June.