Posted: Tue, Feb 26, 2013, 6:26 AM ET (1126 GMT)
SpaceX performed a brief hot fire of the first stage engines of its latest Falcon 9 rocket on Monday in advance of a launch later this week of a cargo mission to the International Space Station. The nine Merlin engines in the Falcon 9's first stage fired for two seconds at 1:30 pm EST (1830 GMT) while the rocket was held down on the pad at Cape Canaveral. The test appeared successful, but company officials said the data collected from the test will be reviewed prior to proceeding with the launch. SpaceX is slated to launch that Falcon 9, carrying a Dragon cargo spacecraft, Friday morning on a mission to the ISS. It will be the second of 12 cargo flights the company is performing under a NASA contract.

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