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Update: Liftoff of Falcon 9 on CRS-25 at 8:44 p.m. ET Thursday! Read our full post-launch story here.
Weather conditions look solid for SpaceX's next launch from Florida, an International Space Station resupply mission set to take flight just a few days before another liftoff from a neighboring pad.
Space Force forecasters on Wednesday said weather conditions should be 70% "go" for the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center at 8:44 p.m. Thursday, July 14. Flying from pad 39A, it will mark SpaceX's 25th ISS resupply under contract from NASA.
"While an isolated shower cannot be ruled out, most (weather) activity is expected to remain inland during the evening hours," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said. "With upper-level winds coming from the east / northeast, this will also help keep any anvil clouds associated with the storms to the west."
Upper-level winds, which can damage or destroy rockets traveling through the atmosphere and blistering speeds, were listed as "low-risk." Weather-related risks to Falcon 9's planned drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean were also considered low.
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In the event of a delay to Friday or Saturday, the Space Force said, conditions would dip slightly to 60% "go" on both days.
The Dragon capsule secured atop Falcon 9 will take thousands of pounds of cargo, science experiments, and supplies for the crew of the ISS, which stands at 10 astronauts and cosmonauts. The 5,800 pounds of cargo will include investigations into: how desert dusts impact Earth's atmosphere; the aging of immune system cells and how to reverse changes caused by spaceflight; measuring cloud top and ocean surface temperatures; and a student-led experiment that will test a concrete alternative for potential use in habitats on the moon or Mars.
At nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, meanwhile, teams at Launch Complex 40 are prepping yet another Falcon 9 for liftoff before the week is out. The rocket will boost SpaceX's 51st batch of Starlink internet satellites Sunday, July 17, and return to Earth for a drone ship landing in the Atlantic.
Liftoff is set during a window that runs from 10:17 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. If successful, SpaceX will have launched nearly 3,000 of the internet-beaming satellites to date, though fewer than that are currently operational.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.
Visit floridatoday.com/space at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14, for real-time updates and live video.
Visit floridatoday.com/space at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 17, for real-time updates and live video.