Falcon 9

Starlink launching in 2023 from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral.
Starlink launching in 2023 from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral.
File photo: Starlink launching in 2023 from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX is planning to launch another tranche of Kuiper satellites for Amazon from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday evening after weather delays stopped previous attempts last week. The current launch window opens at 08:08 PM ET (0008 Z), and closes at 10:22:00 PM the same day. Weather here at the launch site is all but perfect, but out at sea, conditions in the expected booster landing area will remain a concern for at least another couple of days.

After launching and powering the initial ascent phase for the mission, Booster 1091-2 will complete its second mission by landing on ASDS  ‘Just Read the Instructions’, which is stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

Should it be required, a backup launch opportunity is available on Tuesday, October 14 starting at 7:46:00 PM ET.

At A Glance

Details
Mission Falcon 9 Block 5 | Project Kuiper (KF-03) — Go for Launch!
Organization SpaceX
Customer / Payload Provider Amazon Kuiper Systems
Location Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket Falcon 9
Pad Space Launch Complex 40
Status Go for Launch
Status Info Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens Monday, 10/13/2025 8:08 PM
Window Closes Monday, 10/13/2025 10:22 PM
Destination Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description Third of a three-launch contract for Amazon’s Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation, with 24 satellites on board.
Broadcast Start Time Coverage typically begins ~15 minutes before launch.
SpaceX Streaming Coverage Watch Live on SpaceX.com
Spaceflight Now YouTube Coverage Watch on YouTube – Spaceflight Now Live Stream

As of 11:48 AM Friday October 10, 2025. Launch times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult SpaceX.com for more information.

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force’s Launch Delta 45 has forecast a 95% chance of acceptable conditions at The Cape, and they have also outlined concerns in the booster recovery area.

Trajectory

The vehicle is expected to insert its payloads into a roughly 630 km altitude, 52° inclination orbit — the same operational orbit used for prior Kuiper launches.

Payload

Tonight’s launch carries 24 Kuiper satellites, built for Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation. These spacecraft are designed for broadband internet delivery, each outfitted with advanced phased-array antennas and inter-satellite laser links to route data across the network.

Together, they will bolster a growing low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband mesh that Amazon aims will eventually consist of over 3,200 satellites to provide global high-speed internet access.

Once in service, these 24 new Kuiper satellites will add capacity and redundancy to the live network. They’re expected to support continuous global coverage in coordination with previously launched Kuiper craft, making the network more robust against outages or orbital anomalies.

Launch Viewing: In Person

The best options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1.

The Space Bar will be open through the launch window. Restaurants in Port Canaveral, specifically Gators Dockside, Fishlips and Grills Seafood should have good views after the rocket clears obstructions.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Launch Viewing: Online

SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Kuiper KF-03. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Read more

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft awaits its capture by the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, commanded by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick on Aug. 6, 2024.
Credit: NASA

SpaceX is planning to launch Falcon 9 and the Northrup-Grumman CRS-2 mission towards low Earth orbit and the International Space Station this evening. Shortly afterward, the Space Coast will hear a sonic boom as the booster returns to land at Cape Canaveral.

Launch time is scheduled for 6:11:48 PM ET in an instantaneous window. As is standard for most launches to Station, should weather or technical reasons prevent a launch at the time, SpaceX will be forced to stand down and wait for the next window tomorrow.

Payload

Tonight’s mission will be the Cygnus XL variant of Northrup-Gruman’s cargo delivery spacecraft. The XL is a “stretched” version that offers significantly more cargo volume and payload mass compared to earlier Cygnus versions. Specifically, it increases the cargo-carrying capacity by approximately 1,250 kg (roughly 33%) over the baseline, bringing its total payload capacity to around 5,000 kg (11,000 pounds) of pressurized cargo.

Among the research payloads are experiments for growing semiconductor crystals in microgravity, tools to refine technologies for cryogenic fuel tanks (which are critical for future space missions), and a UV light system designed to limit microbial growth in the station’s water systems. Also aboard are supplies for pharmaceutical crystal development with implications for cancer and other disease treatments. No ice cream this time, we checked and did not see it mentioned in NASA’s manifest.

Weather

Compared to other missions of late, the Launch Mission Execution Forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 is almost optimistic: 75% GO at launch time.

Trajectory

Northeast on the well-worn path to ISS:

Streaming Options

NASA will livestream the launch on NASA-TV. Coverage starts about 20-30 minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

Please note that there is a delay between the launch stream and the actual countdown clock if you are watching in person. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also available online at nextspaceflight.com.

A Falcon booster returning to land at Cape Canaveral
Photo: Charles Boyer

Launch Viewing: In Person

Since the launch is during the early evening, a lot of options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets. Jetty Park will have the best view of the booster return, but not as spectacular a view of liftoff. On the other hand, Titusville parks will have the opposite: a great view of liftoff but not as close as Jetty Park for the landing.

Playalinda Beach is several miles north of the launch pad, but ignition and of course the flight of the rocket and its return are visible from that location. If you go, go early in case the crowds are heavy.

Other options include The Space Bar, a rooftop bar at the Courtyard By Marriott in Titusville. It offers great views of the launches and a full bar and menu. Other options include New York, New York on the Indian River in Titusville, but if you want to grab a bite, go early, because their kitchen usually closes for the day around 6:30 PM.

File photo of a Falcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
Photo: Charles Boyer
Read more

Falcon 9
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 launching from SLC-40
Photo: Charles Boyer

SpaceX and NASA are set to send supplies to ISS overnight aboard Cargo Dragon. Liftoff is set for 2:45:36 AM ET in an instantaneous window. And it will be a quick trip once in orbit: after an approximate 28-hour flight, Dragon will dock with the orbiting outpost on Monday, August 25, around 7:30 AM ET.

At A Glance

Field Details
Mission Falcon 9 Block 5 | Dragon CRS-2 SpX-33 — Go for Launch!
Organization SpaceX
Location Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket Falcon 9
Pad Space Launch Complex 40
Status Go for Launch
Status Info Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens Sunday, 08/24/2025 2:45:36 AM
Window Closes Sunday, 08/24/2025 2:45:36 AM
Destination Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description 33rd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Cargo Dragon 2 brings supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support science and research investigations that occur onboard the orbiting laboratory.

As of 10:00 AM Saturday August 23, 2025. Launch times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult SpaceX.com for more information.

Along with the usual gamut of food, gear, and crew supplies, CRS-33 will deliver a range of scientific experiments to the International Space Station. These include stem cells that promote bone formation, aimed at studying how to prevent bone loss in space. Dragon will also carry materials for 3D printing medical implants—research that could lead to better treatments for nerve damage back on Earth.

The Tortilla Express

Another item on the launch manifest for CRS-33 is roughly 1500 tortillas. They are a staple food aboard Station — convenient, quick, and quite handy to bundle up other food items…breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are a crumb-free condensed item, making the humble tortilla one of the most likely foods humans will carry to Mars and beyond.

Other payloads include bioprinted liver tissue for examining how blood vessels form in microgravity, and tools for printing metal cubes in orbit.

Planned Reboost Test For Cargo Dragon

Cargo Dragon will also conduct a reboost test to help maintain the station’s altitude. The boost system, housed in Dragon’s trunk, features its own propellant setup and uses a pair of Draco engines powered by existing hardware.

Starting in September 2025, the system will carry out a series of burns to demonstrate its ability to sustain the lab’s orbit. This follows Dragon’s first successful test of the reboost function on November 8, 2024, during NASA’s 31st commercial resupply mission with SpaceX.

Cargo Dragon is expected to stay docked at the station through December after which it will return to Earth off of the coast of California.

Booster: B1090

This will be the seventh flight of first stage B1090, which will be supporting this mission. Previously, B1090 launched O3b mPOWER-E, Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, O3b mPOWER-D, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, it will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas, located downrange off the South Carolina coast. There will not be a sonic boom on the Space Coast after the launch.

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 released their Launch Mission Execution Forecast yesterday afternoon, and it calls for a 70% chance of acceptable weather, with watch items being the usual summer items: cumulus clouds and nearby lightning.

Trajectory

Northeast, on the usual ISS route.

B1090 will touch down off the South Carolina coast aboard ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’

Online Viewing

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: CRS-33. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about twenty minutes before liftoff.

A night-time SLC-40 launch as seen from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville.
A night-time SLC-40 launch as seen from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

The best free options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets. Don’t forget bug spray.

Read more

SpaceX, NASA and the Crew 11 astronauts beat the clouds and rain showers and launched before summer showers washed over Kennedy Space Center today, but just barely. With dark skies and rain rapidly advancing from the south, liftoff of SpaceX’s 18th crewed flight was at 11:43 AM ET from venerable Launch Complex 39A. Crew 11’s four astronauts are now on their way to the International Space Station after today’s launch, with an expected arrival time at the orbital outpost around 3 AM ET tomorrow, August 2.

Gravity Turn: After Max-Q and now in its supersonic flight phase, Falcon 9 enters another gear, leaving the contrail it just made behind quickly. The cloud is from the rocket, not the storms it was escaping on August 1, 2025.
Read more

Tempus fugit, a lot of clocks say: “time is fleeting.” For a facility as established and enduring as Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, it might seem like forever since the first rocket launched from here. Time has flown and so have thousands of rockets and missiles from America’s premier spaceport. Truth is, CCSFS has been open “only” 75 years, but it continues to have a bright future not only today but also for the long-term future.

Read more

Falcon 9 awaiting launch at SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 awaiting launch at SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral

SpaceX is set to launch Falcon 9 and the SES-operated O3b mPower satellites this evening from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is set for 05:12 PM ET, with a two hour window extending to 07:12 PM ET.

Official weather forecasts have given the mission a 50/50 chance for acceptable weather, with roughly a 25% chance of thunderstorms in the launch area during the launch window. Keep in mind that acceptable conditions consider more than just rain, it also includes thunderstorm activity in the launch area as well as the lightning potential in the immediate vicinity of the rocket. To learn more about launch commit criteria, click here.

Boeing’s 9th and 10th O3b mPOWER satellites—launched in partnership with SES—will bolster the company’s push to deliver global connectivity from space. Leveraging Boeing’s fully software-defined payload technology, these satellites can dynamically allocate power to match user demand.

Today will mark the sixth mission for Falcon 9 first stage booster B1096, and after completing its share of the mission, the booster will touch down offshore on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions.’

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 of the US Space Force gives a 50% chance for weather to be acceptable during the launch window:

Trajectory

ESE, as is typical for equatorial orbits:

Online Viewing

SpaceCoastLaunchCalendar.com will have a livestream of the launch if you’re not able to watch the launch in person: Livestream

SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: O3B MPower Mission. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

The best free options are available for spectators: Northern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets: Space View Park, Sands Park, Rotary Riverfront Park.

View Spots For SLC-40

The Space Bar will be open through the launch window. New York New York in Titusville will be open to roughly 7 PM, and is a great place to watch as well. Restaurants in Port Canaveral, specifically Gators Dockside, Fishlips and Grills Seafood should have good views after the rocket clears obstructions.

Read more

Axiom 4 lifts off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center
Axiom 4 lifts off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center

After several delays, Axiom 4 is on its way to the International Space Station. The corporate mission, commanded by NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, lifted off at 2:31 AM Eastern Time from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon.

In addition to Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, an officer in the Indian Air Force and astronaut with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists include Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a project astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) representing Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Notably, this mission marks the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary will visit the ISS, representing each nation’s first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years.

Read more

Between Storms, SpaceX Launches GPS III-7 Aboard Falcon 9

It was a typical summer’s day here on the Space Coast: at first, sunny and warm, humid with an ever-present threat of a thunderstorm lingering off in the distance.

An hour and a half before today’s launch, while the countdown clock was ticking towards T-0, the skies made good on their threat of a thunderstorm, with plenty of lightning strikes and heavy showers near Space Launch Complex 40, where the GPS III-7 satellite, also known as SV-08, waited atop Falcon 9 for liftoff just before the end of the launch window at 1:38 PM Eastern Time.

Read more