Above: An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is shown in this still image from video in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. September 1, 2016.
Today SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket, for the first time since the September 1st accident that destroyed another vehicle during a test firing. After months of investigation, SpaceX finally said it had found the cause of that accident earlier this month, and was then given permission to resume launches.
The launch, at California’s Vandenburg Air Force Base, is expected at 12:54 p.m. EST, and SpaceX will stream it live here starting a little before that.
The rocket’s payload will be 10 satellites to be deployed for the communications firm Iridium. But there will be a lot more riding on the launch than that—the future of the company, and, without too much hyperbole, the human race.
Here’s why. Obviously, halting services for more than four months is no good for any business. A report Friday from the Wall Street Journal claimed that a previous accident and fleet grounding in 2015 led…