SpaceX to launch from Florida ... if weather cooperates

SpaceX returns to Florida for an expected launch early Tuesday but weather conditions could put a damper on that plan.Elon Musk’s space company plans to lift a commercial satellite into orbit from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center overnight, with...

SpaceX to launch from Florida ... if weather cooperates

SpaceX returns to Florida for an expected launch early Tuesday but weather conditions could put a damper on that plan.

Elon Musk’s space company plans to lift a commercial satellite into orbit from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center overnight, with the launch scheduled for 1:35 a.m.

But the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, which is based on the coast, says weather conditions in the region place the likelihood of a launch at 40 percent.

If there is a delay, a backup launch window opens at 1:35 a.m. on Thursday.

The company’s Falcon 9 rocket will carry the EchoStar 23 communications satellite for Englewood, Colo.,-based EchoStar Corporation.

The company operates the fourth-largest commercial satellite fleet in the world.

SpaceX, meanwhile, has been buoyed by its most recent launch, which had followed a months-long period of inactivity in Florida that followed an explosion on a launch pad in September.

That incident sped up the company’s need to refurbish Launch Complex 39A for use.

The company signed a 20-year lease with NASA for use of the site in 2014 and upgraded the aging facilities before its first launch since 2011 last month.

The facility was the launching site for the first manned mission to the moon, along with the most-recent shuttle mission in 2011.

Got a news tip? msantana@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter, @marcosantana

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.

Date Of Update: 15 March 2017, 15:53
NEXT NEWS