Photos: Falcon 9 breaks apart en route to ISS

Scientists working on a new lightning detection instrument mounted outside the International Space Station said Tuesday they expect little effect on the sensor’s performance from possible contamination from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched it into orbit April 2.

The Starlink 15-9 mission will be the 200th orbital launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East to date. SpaceX is targeting liftoff of its Falcon 9 rocket at 8:36 p.m. PDT (11:36 p.m. EDT, 0336 UTC).

The mission featured the launch of NASA’s largest spacecraft bound on a planetary mission. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 UTC).