The launch of SpaceX‘s Falcon Heavy is expected to happen today, April 11, after the launch was delayed yesterday due to high wind shear. The first Falcon Heavy launch of any kind happened about a year ago, and today’s launch will be the second launch and the first commercial launch. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy will launch the Arabsat-6A satellite from Launch Complex 39Z (LC-39Z) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You can watch a live stream of the watch in the video above when it happens, along with multiple live streams below. Read on for more details about the time of the launch and to see more streams.
The Falcon Heavy launch is currently expected to happen today, April 11, at 6:35 p.m. Eastern. The launch window for today closes at 8:31 p.m. Eastern. Remember, you can click the icon at the bottom right of the video above to switch between the countdown camera and the hosted webcast.
All systems and weather are currently go ahead of tonight’s Falcon Heavy launch of Arabsat-6A from Pad 39A; launch window opens at 6:35 p.m. EDT, or 22:35 UTC → t.co/gtC39uBC7z
It looks like the launch may happen on time.
Falcon Heavy launch webcast is live→ t.co/gtC39uBC7z
The launch window was originally scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday, April 10. But the liftoff was pushed back due to high wind shear.
@SpaceX Upper atmospheric wind shear is very high. Will have to postpone launch unless weather improves soon.
Here’s another live stream that will show the launch live from five miles away.
And here’s a stream from Fox 10 Phoenix:
The satellite will be deployed about 34 minutes after liftoff. After booster separation, the two side boosters will attempt to land at SpaceX’s two landing zones at Cape Canaveral Air Force base in Florida. The center core will attempt to land on the droneship in the Atlantic Ocean called “Of Course I Still Love You.”
Some interesting points to note about today’s launch. First, the center core is going to burn 25 seconds longer than it did during the demo last year. And it’s landing at its furthest distance so far. There also won’t be a technical webcast, as SpaceX does not seem to be doing those as often anymore. They do show flight animation on a second camera stream, but it typically lacks the telemetry data that people enjoyed on the technical webcast.
According to Elon Musk, this is the first flight for Falcon Heavy Block 5 and he’s estimating a failure risk of 5 to 10 percent.
@CdeCiencia First flight for Falcon Heavy Block 5 means there is some risk of failure between 5% to 10% imo. Many good design improvements from Falcon Heavy demo, but the changes are unproven.
Here’s the mission timeline for today, as shared by SpaceX for after the launch. The times are in minutes and seconds after launch.
- 01:09 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
- 02:30 Booster engine cutoff (BECO)
- 02:34 Side boosters separate from center core
- 02:51 Side boosters begin boostback burn
- 03:31 Center core engine shutdown/main engine cutoff (MECO)
- 03:35 Center core and 2nd stage separate
- 03:42 2nd stage engine starts
- 04:07 Fairing deployment
- 06:11 Side boosters begin entry burn
- 07:00 Center core begins entry burn
- 07:51 Side booster landings
- 08:48 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
- 09:48 Center core landing
- 27:34 2nd stage engine restarts
- 29:00 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
- 34:02 Arabsat-6A satellite deployment
In other words, the satellites will be deployed about 34 minutes after launch. The side booster landings will be about 7:51 after launch and the center core landing will be about 9:48 after launch.