The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft await liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Image credit: NASA TV
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is a two-stage rocket powered by nine of the company’s Merlin engines on the first stage, and a single Merlin engine on the second stage. These engines run on cryogenic liquid oxygen and a fuel called RP-1, a highly refined kerosene.
The rocket is topped by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which provides pressurized and unpressurized “trunk” space for the cargo it’s carrying to the International Space Station.
The first stage flying today has been flown before – it was used on the launch of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) on April 18 of this year. Additionally, the Dragon launching today is making its second trip to the station; it previously flew on SpaceX CRS-9, back in July 2016.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft await liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: SpaceX
Launch Weather Officer Mike McAleenan of the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing briefed the launch team and the forecast remains the same: a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions for liftoff this morning, with light winds out of the southwest at 8 to 10 miles per hour and a temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here’s a timeline of today’s countdown and ascent milestones. All times are approximate.
COUNTDOWN Hour/Min/Sec – Events 01:13:00 – SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
01:10:00 – RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading underway
00:35:00 – LOX (liquid oxygen) loading underway
00:07:00 – Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00 – Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 – Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45 – SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 – Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 – Falcon 9 liftoff
LAUNCH AND DRAGON DEPLOYMENT Hour/Min/Sec – Events 00:01:19 – Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:45 – 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:48 – 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:56 – 2nd stage engine starts
00:08:31 – 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
00:09:31 – Dragon separates from 2nd stage
00:11:00 – Dragon’s solar arrays deploy
02:20:00 – Dragon’s Guidance, Navigation and Control bay door opens
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft await liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Image credit: NASA TV
Despite the early hour, countdown clocks are marking the time toward a 5:42 a.m. EDT liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on the company’s 15th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA.
Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing are keeping an eye on the weather across the launch area, but the forecast predicts a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions.
At Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, prelaunch activities are proceeding on schedule. Propellant loading operations are in progress.
Launch team members are stationed at consoles here at the Florida spaceport, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and at the SpaceX control center located in Hawthorne, California. Today’s launch blog comes to you from the news center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, about three miles west of the launch site.
SpaceX’s 15th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station is slated to begin before dawn Friday. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for at 5:42 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Dragon is packed with more than 5,900 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
The launch forecast predicts a 90 percent chance of favorable weather, according to meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing.
Join us right here on the launch blog for countdown updates beginning at 5:15 a.m.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 on July 18, 2017, at the start of the CRS-9 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray
NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 5:42 a.m. EDT on Friday, June 29, for the launch of its 15th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Packed with more than 5,900 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing predict a 90 percent chance of favorable weather at launch time. Cumulus and anvil clouds are the primary weather concerns.
Coverage of the SpaceX CRS-15 mission starts today with prelaunch events on NASA Television and at www.nasa.gov/live.
11 a.m.: What’s on Board science briefing highlighting the mission’s research
12:45 p.m.: Prelaunch news conference with representatives from NASA’s ISS Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing
The two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifts off Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 15, 2017 carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray, Tim Powers and Tim Terry
Commercial Resupply Services Mission:SpaceX CRS-15 Launch:5:42 a.m. EDT, Friday, June 29, 2018 Lift Off:Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Launch Vehicle:SpaceX Falcon 9, 230 feet-tall Spacecraft:Dragon, 20 feet high, 12 feet-in diameter Payload:Dragon will deliver supplies and payloads, including materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during the space station’s Expeditions 56. Return to Earth:After about one month attached to the space station, Dragon will return with results of earlier experiments, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. Payloads on Board:https://go.nasa.gov/2LymYKJ
The two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifts off Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
A care package with more than 5,800 pounds of supplies from Earth is on its way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The company’s 14th commercial cargo mission to resupply the space station began at 4:30 p.m. EDT with liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Dragon spacecraft now is in orbit with its solar arrays deployed and providing power.
With the countdown clock in the foreground, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launching a Dragon spacecraft with supplies for the International Space Station. Photo Credit: NASA/Dan Casper
During a prelaunch news conference, Pete Hasbrook, NASA’s associate program scientist for International Space Station Program Science Office at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, praised the work of Commercial Resupply Services companies.
“The International Space Station is a world-class and multi- disciplinary laboratory in space,” he said. “Our commercial providers help in bringing our sciences forward and keep it going on space station and bringing benefits back to Earth.”
Project scientists Matthew Romeyn, left, and Dr. Ye Zhang place seeds in Veggie Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS) units inside a laboratory at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper
Live NASA TV coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT on April 4 on http://www.nasa.gov/live
Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon’s capture. After Dragon capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.
The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station. Unberthing and release of the Dragon from the space station is targeted for May 2. About five hours after Dragon leaves the station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts up to 10 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes for Dragon to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.
With solar panels deployed in the file photo, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrives at the International Space Station with cargo for the SpaceX CRS-9 mission on July 20, 2016. Photo credit: NASA
Dragon’s solar arrays are unfurling and the spacecraft is on course to deliver more than 5,800 pounds of supplies, equipment and experiments to the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. Arrival is scheduled for April 4 with grapple planned for 7 a.m. EDT.
Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon’s capture. After Dragon capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.
Live NASA Television coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT on April 4 at: www.nasa.gov/live
3 – 2 – 1 – Zero — Ignition and liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, for the company’s 14th mission to deliver supplies, equipment and science materials to the International Space Station. The vehicle is quickly climbing away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Photo Credit: NASA/Dan Casper
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first-stage also has completed its work and has separated from the vehicle.
The countdown continues toward liftoff at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Starting at about seven minutes before launch, the Falcon 9’s engines will be chilled to condition them for the super-cold oxidizer — liquid oxygen.
About three minutes prior to liftoff, the umbilical tower-like strongback support structure will be lowered away from the rocket.
At 90 seconds, the SpaceX launch director will verify “go for launch.”
With about 60 seconds remaining, the flight computer will run its prelaunch checks and the rocket’s propellant tanks will be pressurized.
The terminal stage of the countdown begins at T-minus 30 seconds.
