SpaceX fires up Falcon 9 rocket ahead of Polaris Dawn astronaut launch (photos)

SpaceX’s historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission remains on track to lift off early Tuesday morning (Aug. 27).

Over the weekend, SpaceX briefly ignited the first-stage engines of the Falcon 9 rocket that will launch Polaris Dawn, in a common preflight test known as a static fire.

“Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete — targeting Tuesday, August 27 at 3:38 a.m. ET for launch of the @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn mission,” the company said on X on Sunday (Aug. 25) morning. Later that day, SpaceX shared two photos of the test in another X post.

Polaris Dawn will launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four people into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The company will stream the liftoff live.