SpaceX plans to launch a German military satellite and land a returning rocket on Saturday morning (June 18), and you can watch the action live.
two-stage spacex falcon 9 The rocket is scheduled to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday at 10:19 a.m. EDT (1419 GMT; 7:19 local California time). You can see the action here on SPACE.com, courtesy SpaceXeither directly through the company (opens in new tab), Coverage is expected to begin around 10 minutes before the launch.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 will come down to Earth for a vertical touchdown at Vandenberg nine minutes after liftoff, if all goes according to plan. The upper stage, meanwhile, will carry into orbit SARA-1, a radar satellite to be operated by the German military, as well as a handful of “rideshare” spacecraft, According to EverydayAstronaut.com (opens in new tab),
related: 20 Most Memorable SpaceX Missions
Saturday’s launch a. middle mission of trifecta SpaceX plans to drag on for more than 36 hours. The company launched 53 of its Starlink Internet satellites into orbit yesterday (June 17) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, a mission that Set a new rocket-reuse record, It was the 13th liftoff for that particular Falcon 9 first stage. (The Falcon 9 that flew on Saturday plays the first stage with two launches for the US National Reconnaissance Office, both for the US National Reconnaissance Office, according to a SpaceX mission description. (opens in new tab),
The third launch in the rapid-fire trio is scheduled for early Sunday (June 19), when a Falcon 9 will loft a communications satellite for Louisiana-based company Globalstar. That mission will fly from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, which is next to KSC.
Back-to-back-to-back launches continue to be a very busy year for SpaceX. Elon MuskThe company has already done 24 missions in 2022, which works out to about one per week.
While all of these operational rockets get off the ground, SpaceX continues to work on its potentially transformative next-generation transportation system, called a giant rocket-spaceship combo. starship, The company is gearing up for the first orbital flight test of Starship, which maybe in the next few months Now that a US Federal Aviation Administration environmental review is in the books.
Mike Wall is the author ofout there (opens in new tab)(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwal (opens in new tab), Follow us on Twitter @spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab),
