SpaceX test fires rocket for NASA X-ray telescope mission

SpaceX completed a static fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a launch Dec. 9 with the space agency’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer science mission. The rocket’s nine Merlin first stage engines ignited at 12:18 p.m. EST (1718 GMT). The rocket will return to pad 39A Tuesday with NASA’s IXPE spacecraft in preparation launch Thursday, Dec. 9, with a two-hour launch window that open at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT).