#Rocket launch cape canaveral today windows

'Tuesday should continue the favorable conditions at the spaceport with morning coastal showers, but afternoon convection will remain mostly inland,' Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Monday. Weather, meanwhile, should be 80% 'go' for liftoff during the eight-minute window, according to the Space Force. If conditions are clear enough, the launch could be visible to residents well into South Florida. Company / Agency: United Launch Alliance for the National Reconnaissance Office Rocket: Delta IV Heavy Location: Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space. Transporter-2 has another treat in store for Florida: unlike most missions that fly toward the northeast or even straight out east over the Atlantic, Falcon 9 will rapidly gimbal its engines after launch and turn toward the south on a kind of polar trajectory known as sun-synchronous. In Transporter-2 mission, flight path may be visible in South Florida The first Transporter flight broke records in January with a whopping 143 spacecraft, while Tuesday's launch will include 88 total payloads. Tuesday will see SpaceX fly its second Transporter mission, a service that allows several organizations to split launch costs by flying smaller spacecraft in one Falcon 9 payload fairing. Hearing unscheduled booms is often a sign that X-37B has returned to the SLF, now called the Launch and Landing Facility. Tuesday, just two vehicles generate sonic booms during descent: Falcon 9 and X-37B, a secretive Boeing spaceplane operated by the Space Force that stays in low-Earth orbit years at a time. Returning space shuttles would break through the sound barrier during their approach to Kennedy Space Center's former Shuttle Landing Facility, generating booms that could be heard as far away as Florida's west coast.

#Rocket launch cape canaveral today windows

Though loud enough to rattle windows and startle spectators, studies – including some authored by NASA and Air Force researchers – have shown sonic booms are not dangerous.īooms used to be much more common on the Space Coast. Though some spectators close to the landing pad might be able to make out two or even all three booms, most will only hear one large rumble by the time it reaches their location. 'But what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.'įrom bottom to top, Falcon 9 generates three sonic booms during its descent: first, the Merlin main engines, then the black landing legs, and finally, the titanium grid finds used to steer the rocket. Lucie and Okeechobee counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing,' SpaceX said in a warning statement Monday. 'There is a possibility that residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Falcon 9's booms aren't heard during ascent due to its altitude, but its landing booms are generated just over the Cape as it fires its Merlin engines to slow down. Sonic booms are generated when an aircraft or rocket approaches the speed-of-sound barrier during acceleration or deceleration. That mission took a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload to low-Earth orbit. It's been a while since residents and spectators were startled by sonic booms – the last time a Falcon 9 booster returned to the Cape for a local landing was in December. Though it will have flown to an altitude hundreds of thousands of feet above Earth's surface, the booster will touch down just 5 1/2 miles from where it started.

liftoff from Launch Complex 40, the rocket's 162-foot booster will separate from the payload-hauling second stage, flip around, and begin an autonomous descent toward nearby Landing Zone 1. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of 55 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.View Gallery: Photos: SpaceX launches Transporter-1 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force StationĪ rarely heard cannonade of sonic booms will reverberate across the Space Coast on Tuesday, the result of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch and subsequent landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.Īfter a 2:56 p.m. SpaceX is targeting Sunday, May 14, at 1:03 a.m. Backup opportunities are also available on Monday, May 15 at 12:38 a.m. If needed, there are additional launch opportunities the same day at 2:44 a.m. ET (05:03 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 56 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Coverage of the launch can be seen on Space Coast Daily TVĪBOVE VIDEO: SpaceX is targeting Sunday, May 14 at 1:03 a.m.