SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Friday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the SES 9 television broadcast satellite into orbit 31 minutes later.
The 229-foot-tall rocket is poised for launch from Complex 40 at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT) Friday at the opening of a 91-minute launch window.
Perched atop the rocket is the SES 9 communications satellite, a 11,620-pound (5,271-kilogram) spacecraft made by Boeing, ready to beam television programming, data services and mobile connectivity to homes, businesses, ships and airplanes in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region.
The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with SES 9. It does not include times for the experimental descent and landing attempt of the first stage booster, which SpaceX says is unlikely to succeed due to the high speed required for the SES 9 launch.
SpaceX’s landing platform is positioned about 400 miles (650 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral for the first stage landing attempt, which is expected around 10 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX engineers have narrowed the cause of last week’s unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 rocket booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean on a commanding issue with an engine throttle valve, according to Elon Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive.
Spaceflight Now members can watch a video replay of the static fire test of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before the fourth launch dedicated to deploying the company’s Starlink broadband network.
In addition to carrying an Air Force electric propulsion thruster test, a materials research investigation sponsored by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will be flying aboard the X-37B miniature spaceplane later this month.