SpaceX has made quite a name for itself thanks to its ongoing space-bound missions and the effectiveness of its reusable rockets — like the Falcon 9. Another of the company’s successful rockets, the Falcon Heavy, will celebrate its sixth launch later today — here’s how to watch it.
The latest launch of the Falcon Heavy will carry two satellites toward a very distant geostationary orbit. The rocket is expected to liftoff at 7:29 p.m. EDT (23:29 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
With over five million pounds of thrust behind it, the Falcon Heavy is a beast of a rocket. It has carried some iconic missions into space — including a Tesla Roadster loaded with a mannequin named “Starman” almost five years ago. If you love seeing powerful rockets lift off, you’ll want to watch this latest Heavy Falcon launch for yourself.
You can watch the most recent launch as it carries the ViaSat-3 Americas mission into orbit on SpaceX’s YouTube channel starting at 7:15 p.m. EDT. The launch window for this mission will be 57 minutes, beginning at 7:29 p.m. EDT.
The second satellite in the mission is an Arcturus communications satellite, which will help provide data throughput to Alaska and other areas. If, for any reason, the launch is unsuccessful, a second attempt may be made on Friday, April 28, during the same launch window.
The Falcon Heavy launch isn’t the only exciting launch SpaceX has had this month, either. Earlier this month, aurora hunters were dazzled by a floating whirlpool in the sky, created by another SpaceX rocket. Last week, Starship — the largest rocket ever built — lifted off for the first time.
While Starship did explode shortly after liftoff, sparking an FAA investigation, the launch was deemed a success by Musk and SpaceX as a whole.
