Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Jason 3 satellite, a joint project between European and U.S. weather agencies to monitor wave height and sea level in the world’s oceans.
The 224-foot-tall rocket will lift off Sunday at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
SpaceX will deploy a new rocket landing platform off Florida’s Space Coast to enter a rotation with another drone ship stationed at Cape Canaveral, company founder Elon Musk said Monday.
Two ion-driven communications satellites launched from Cape Canaveral on March 1 have begun novel maneuvers using electric propulsion to reach operating posts 22,300 miles over the equator.
A hold-down test-firing of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral marked a major step in preparations for SpaceX’s 13th mission of the year, scheduled for liftoff Monday with a commercial communications satellite.