SpaceX targeting next week for late-night launch from Cape Canaveral

Falcon 9 set to launch Tuesday at 12:33 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX has been given the all-clear to proceed with an early Tuesday Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a commercial communications satellite.

SpaceX's fifth mission of the year – and second overall launch from the Space Coast in as many days – will target a 12:33 a.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 40, according to News 6 partner Florida Today. Teams have two hours to launch the satellite for Spain-based Hispasat.

A weather forecast from the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron is expected this weekend.

The satellite, known as Hispasat 30W-6, is a 12,000-pound spacecraft that will provide television, broadband and other communications services to the Americas and Europe. It was manufactured by Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto, California, before shipment to Cape Canaveral in January.

SpaceX will boost the heavy satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit, resulting in a limited leftover fuel supply for the Falcon 9 booster to attempt an automated landing. The Of Course I Still Love You drone ship is expected to host the attempt and return to Port Canaveral with the 162-foot-tall booster several days later.

Tuesday's launch attempt follows last Thursday's successful 5:02 p.m. blastoff of an Atlas V rocket with the newest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite, labeled GOES-S. The geostationary spacecraft should become fully operational before the end of the year, Florida Today reported.

Launch Tuesday:
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Mission: Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite
Launch Time: 12:33 a.m.
Launch Window: Two hours
Launch Complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Weather: Forecast expected soon


Recommended Videos