Since last week’s aborted test fire, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has now managed to ignite all its 9 Merlin engines in a static firing.

The successful test happened on Saturday at Cape Canaveral, and marks an important milestone for the Hawthorne, California based company. The next step is a proper launch, touted to happen in the next few months.

SpaceX’s first rocket, Falcon 1 failed on its first three launches, but was eventually successful in October 2008.

Falcon 9 will be servicing the International Space Station once the Shuttle retires, with its Dragon reusable module. The related module DragonLab is SpaceX’s offering for scientists to fly their experiments in space (see Science lines up for seat to space).

And with SpaceX about to launch, the scene is set for commercial astronauts to plan their careers. Bigelow Aerospace, based in Las Vegas and owners of an inflatable space hotel for cockroaches have posted a job ad for an astronaut (Hat tip: NASA Watch).

Image: Chris Thompson/SpaceX