Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

The mission is third time SpaceX will launch satellites for AST SpaceMobile and its first of the Block 2 iteration of the BlueBird satellites. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 2:39 a.m. EDT (0639 UTC).

Tracking information released by the U.S. military indicates two government payloads rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Dec. 19 on the NROL-108 mission, a dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Hurricane Matthew slammed NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, home to multiple launch pads and spacecraft assembly facilities, with wind gusts of more than 100 mph early Friday, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage at the spaceport as the storm passed just offshore.