SpaceX is about to send its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket skyward in its first mission since December last year.
The triple-booster Falcon Heavy will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 25, and deploy the fourth and final satellite of the next-generation series of geostationary weather satellites for NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
Once deployed, the GOES-U will orbit 22,300 miles above Earth and monitor weather conditions across the U.S. Once it’s in operational orbit, the satellite will be renamed GOES-19.
The mission will be the Falcon Heavy’s 10th flight and the first since December, when it launched the U.S. Space Force’s experimental X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle.
The Falcon Heavy uses three Falcon 9 boosters and therefore has three times the power of SpaceX’s workhorse rocket, creating around 5.5 million pounds of thrust at launch.
How to watch
SpaceX is aiming to launch the Falcon Heavy rocket at 5:16 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 25. The vehicle will lift off from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A live stream will begin on SpaceX’s website and X account about half an hour before launch.
It should be noted that due to weather concerns, there is currently only a 30% chance of the mission getting away on time. We will be sure to update if the schedule changes, though you can also check SpaceX’s social media feed for the very latest information.
What to expect
Rocket fans will be used to seeing the Falcon 9 blasting off the launchpad, but the Falcon Heavy is considerably more powerful and should be quite a spectacle as it roars toward orbit. Multiple cameras on the ground and the rocket itself will track the early part of the mission, including stage separation, the landing of two of the first-stage side boosters, and satellite deployment.
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