LIVE: SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Set For 4:47 a.m.

By  //  January 10, 2015

launch webcast will begin at 3:30 a.m.

ABOVE LIVESTREAM: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft at 4:47 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Livestream coverage begins at 3:30 a.m.

SpaceX Fifth Resupply Mission To International Space Station

NASA.gov – Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is targeted for 4:47 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 10, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Livestream coverage begins at 3:30 a.m.

Weather forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather at the scheduled time for launch of SpaceX CRS-5, the company’s fifth resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The previous launch attempt on Tuesday was halted with one minute, 21 seconds left on the countdown clock.

After the Falcon 9 has jettisoned its cargo capsule on a course for the International Space Station, the rocket will attempt a landing on a barge just 300 feet wide about 200 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida.

No one has ever successfully landed a rocket. SpaceX co-founder Elon Musk said in October during a talk at MIT, “reusability is the critical breakthrough needed in rocketry to take things to the next level.”

Drone spaceport ship heads to its hold position in the Atlantic to prepare for a rocket landing. (SpaceX image)
After the Falcon 9 has jettisoned its cargo capsule on a course for the International Space Station, the rocket will attempt a landing on a barge just 300 feet wide about 200 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. (SpaceX image)

SpaceX CRS-5 is the fifth of 12 SpaceX flights NASA has contracted with the company to resupply the space station. It will be the sixth trip by a Dragon spacecraft to the station.

NASA’s SMAP Mission Set For Launch Jan. 29Related Story:
NASA’s SMAP Mission Set For Launch Jan. 29

The Dragon cargo spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 is loaded with more than 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations that will take place on the station during ISS Expeditions 42 and 43.

If you want to watch the launch in person, here’s a list of local viewing locations.

Minutes after Tuesday morning's planned launch from Cape Canaveral, the first stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket will aim for a vertical test landing on a barge in the Atlantic. The 14-story booster will soar close to 150 miles high, before flying back down and attempting to settle upright on the floating platform — close to the size of a football field.
Minutes after the Spacex launch from Cape Canaveral, the first stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket will aim for a vertical test landing on a barge in the Atlantic. The 14-story booster will soar close to 150 miles high, before flying back down and attempting to settle upright on the floating platform — close to the size of a football field.