SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in less than 10 minutes Friday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying more than 5,900 pounds of supplies and experiments.
Liftoff is set for 0942 GMT (5:42 a.m. EDT) Friday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad.
It will be the 57th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and SpaceX’s 12th launch of the year. Working under contract to NASA, Friday’s launch will be the 15th of least 26 SpaceX resupply missions to depart for the space station.
SpaceX does not intend to recover the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage on Friday’s mission. The booster is already a veteran of one launch in April, when it propelled NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite toward orbit.
T-0:00:00: Liftoff
After the rocket’s nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.
T+0:01:10: Mach 1
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound.
T+0:01:19: Max Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
T+0:02:45: MECO
The Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.
T+0:02:48: Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9’s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.
T+0:02:56: Second Stage Ignition
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately five-and-a-half-minute burn to put the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.
T+0:08:31: SECO
The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a target orbit with a low point of approximately 124 miles (200 kilometers), a high point of approximately 223 miles (360 kilometers) and an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The second stage will reignite for a de-orbit burn after a long-duration coast demonstration, falling back into the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean for a destructive re-entry around six hours after liftoff.
T+0:09:31: Dragon Separation
The Dragon spacecraft separates from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage.
T+0:11:00: Solar Arrays Deployed
The Dragon spacecraft’s two solar array wings extend one-at-a-time to a span of 54 feet (16.5 meters).
The first launch of a U.S. Space Force mission since the establishment of the new military service is planned Thursday, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a billion-dollar jam-resistant communications satellite designed to ensure national leaders remain connected with the armed forces.
An atmospheric test model of Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser space plane is being readied for tow and landing tests at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California this spring.
Sierra Nevada Corp. has booked at least six launches on United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket to carry Dream Chaser supply ships into orbit on cargo runs to the International Space Station beginning in 2021, becoming the first confirmed customer for ULA’s next-generation launcher.
