Saturday’s SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Given 50% Chance Go For Launch, Says 45th Weather Squadron
By Space Coast Daily // February 15, 2017
launch window opens at 9:58 a.m. ET
ABOVE VIDEO: Impressive high-speed footage of some of Space X’s previous launches.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Saturday’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center from launch Pad 39A has been given a 50-percent chance go for launch on February 18, according to the 45th Weather Squadron.
The primary concerns for the launch is thick cloud layer rule and the flight through precipitation.
Launch window opens at 9:58 a.m. ET.
The flight is being conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Launch Pad 39A is the former Saturn V and space shuttle pad, and this will be the first SpaceX’s launch from this historic site.
SpaceX is using the KSC launch pad because a fiery explosion destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket on the pad during a static test firing on Sept. 1, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sation’s Space Launch Complex 40, which is still undergoing repairs.
First static fire test of Falcon 9 at historic launch complex 39A completed in advance of Dragon’s upcoming mission to the @Space_Station.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 12, 2017
On January 14, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, marking the company’s return-to-first after the Sept. 1 explosion.
The EchoStar 23 satellite is highly flexible, Ku-band broadcast satellite services satellite with four main reflectors and multiple sub-reflectors.
It is capable of providing services from eight different orbital positions and has an expected service life of 15 years.
