SpaceX test-fires rocket ahead of Crew-6 astronaut launch for NASA (photos)

SpaceX’s rocket test-fired the rocket for its next astronaut launch early Friday (Feb. 24)  in a dress rehearsal to send a new crew into space next week.

A Falcon 9 rocket performed a static fire for SpaceX on Friday (Feb. 24) with its Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule on top. The dress rehearsal was one of the last milestones before SpaceX launches four astronauts on the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station on Monday (Feb. 27). Liftoff is scheduled for 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) and you’ll be able to watch it live on Space.com.

“While standing on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida, the rocket’s nine Merlin first-stage engines roared to life for seven seconds, completing the routine but critical integrated static fire test,” NASA officials wrote of the successful test in a blog post (opens in new tab).

Live updates: SpaceX Crew-6 astronaut launch mission updates
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SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission will launch NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg to the International Space Station alongside Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi.

The Crew Dragon used for this mission is Endeavour, making its four flight after SpaceX’s Demo-2 crew test flight in 2020, Crew-2 flight in 2021 and the private Axiom Mission-1 in 2022.

Crew-6 will be SpaceX’s seventh crewed mission for NASA (including the Demo-2 demonstration flight) under the agency’s commercial crew program, and the ninth time it sent humans to space.

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Four SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts stand in a row during their walkout on Feb. 24, 2023 ahead of a dress rehearsal test with their Falcon 9 rocket. Behind them are support personnel in the entranceway to a support building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Crew-6 astronauts smile in their SpaceX spacesuits ahead of a dress rehearsal of their Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 24, 2023.

SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts interact with waiting crowds on Feb. 24, 2023 ahead of a dress rehearsal test with their Falcon 9 rocket. At far left, the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan Al-Neyadi outstretches his hand with two other crew members visible, but blurred.

SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts members wave at waiting crowds on Feb. 24, 2023 ahead of a dress rehearsal test with their Falcon 9 rocket. Beside them is an open Tesla car.

A Tesla car speeds by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building on Feb. 24, 2023, with Crew-6 members on board, ahead of a dress rehearsal test with their Falcon 9 rocket.

Nicole Jordan, manager of the spacecraft office for NASA’s commercial crew program, monitors the countdown during a Crew-6 launch dress rehearsal Feb. 24, 2023 for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Ven Feng, deputy program manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, monitors the countdown during a Crew-6 launch dress rehearsal Feb. 24, 2023 for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Richard Jones, manager of the mission management and integration office for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, monitors the countdown of the Crew-6 dress rehearsal Friday (Feb. 24) for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Meanwhile, Roscosmos launched an empty Soyuz MS-23 capsule successfully on Thursday (Feb. 23) to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that suffered a coolant leak in December.

MS-23 should dock with the space station on Saturday, providing a ride home for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin; their nominal return home has been postponed six months to September to make room for another crew to relieve them.

Four other astronauts on the ISS have another SpaceX Crew Dragon at hand; in case of emergency, Rubio could squeeze in there while Prokopyev and Petelin would be able to ride the damaged MS-22 back home.

SpaceX is considering a launch of another Falcon 9 rocket with Starlink internet satellites Sunday, Feb. 26 1:12 p.m. EST (1812 GMT), but that may push to make priority for Crew-6.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).