How to watch SpaceX break rocket launch pause with weekend ISS supply mission
A quiet summer for Elon Musk's space company at Cape Canaveral is coming to a close.
- Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Falcon 9 in flight.
It's been nearly two months since a SpaceX rocket left Earth, the longest pause between launches since the company took a two-month break from blasting off in September and October of 2019. Now Elon Musk's wildly successful space startup is set to fly again on Saturday, but wet weather on the edge of Tropical Storm Ida in the Gulf of Mexico may keep the Falcon 9 on the ground at Cape Canaveral.
The CRS-23 mission is the 23rd launch of a SpaceX Dragon capsule to carry cargo to the International Space Station, including supplies for the astronauts living there and new science experiments to be conducted on the station. Among the dozens of scientific payloads on board Dragon are genetically engineered seeds to help scientists learn about growing plants in microgravity.
"It's important to understand the fundamental biological factors that affect plants and how they grow in microgravity," said Lucy Orozco, NASA project manager for the experiment, dubbed APEX-08, in a statement. "By identifying effective solutions for sustainable plant growth, NASA will be able to support human deep space exploration from the Moon to Mars and beyond."
Also riding to orbit inside Dragon is a remotely operated research module that's part of a collaboration with Girls Scouts in central Florida, a new robotic arm from Japan designed to help out around the station and an experiment into how byproducts of wine-making might be able to help prevent bone loss from osteoporosis.
Liftoff is set for 12:37 a.m. PT (3:37 a.m. ET) early Saturday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the latest weather forecast predicts just a 40% chance expected clouds and rain will dissipate enough to allow for a launch to happen.
Things look a little more promising for the backup launch opportunity at 12:14 a.m. PT Sunday.
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster that will lift Dragon was previously used on both SpaceX's Crew-1 and Crew-2 missions transporting astronauts to the ISS as well as the launch of a SiriusXm satellite. The booster will attempt a landing on a new SpaceX droneship, "A Shortfall of Gravitas," which will be stationed offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
If launch happens Saturday morning, Dragon will then dock autonomously with the ISS Sunday morning at around 8 a.m. PT.
A live webcast of the mission will be available from SpaceX and NASA or you can watch via the embedded feed below.
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