Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

How to watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch U.S. space plane to orbit

By

UPDATE: SpaceX has stood down from four previous launch targets and is now aiming to launch the USSF-52 mission on Thursday, December 28. The article below has been updated to include this new information.

SpaceX is planning to launch its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, December 28.

Recommended Videos

The USSF-52 mission will deploy the U.S. Space Force’s experimental X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its seventh flight, during which it’ll complete a wide range of tests, including radiation effects on materials provided by NASA.

Related

It’s the first time for Falcon Heavy to launch the X-37B as a United Launch Alliance rocket usually carries the space plane into orbit.

The uncrewed space plane’s most recent mission ended in November 2022 after it spent a record 908 days in orbit, beating its previous stay in space by 129 days. Since its first mission in April 2010, the X-37B has accrued a total of 3,774 days in space.

The vehicle bears some similarities to NASA’s now-decommissioned space shuttle, but the X-37B is about a quarter the length at 29 feet (8.8 meters).

The Space Force describes the space plane as “an experimental test program” aimed at demonstrating a range of technologies “for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force,” adding that its two primary goals are to develop “reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space, and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.”

The mission will be the Falcon Heavy’s ninth flight and the first since October, when it launched the Psyche spacecraft on a mission to explore a metal asteroid. The rocket has three times the power of SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket (it is essentially three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together). So, with 5.5 million pounds of thrust, Falcon Heavy launches are always a sight to savor.

There’s also the added spectacle of the two side boosters returning to Earth for an upright landing shortly after launch.

How to watch

SpaceX is aiming to launch the Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, December 28.

The team is targeting 8:07 p.m. ET (5:07 p.m. PT) for the launch.

The mission will be live-streamed on SpaceX’s website and also on SpaceX’s account on X, formerly Twitter.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX Crew-9 mission launches to ISS carrying two astronauts
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov onboard, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon craft has launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida carrying two new crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch had been delayed a number of times, most recently due to Hurricane Helene, but lifted off successfully at 1:17 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 28.

The spacecraft, carried by a Falcon 9 rocket and launched from Space Launch Complex-40, carries NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov as members of the Crew-9 mission. It is unusual for a Dragon to launch carrying just two crew members, as it typically carries crews of four. In this case, the spare seats are reserved for the homeward journey of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who are currently on the ISS after having traveled there on the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner.

Read more
SpaceX recreates iconic New York City photo with Starship workers
SpaceX engineers high above the company's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX has given a shout-out to some of its engineers as the company prepares for its first attempt at "catching" a first-stage Super Heavy booster as it returns to Earth.

In a message accompanying two images that recreate the iconic Lunch Atop a Skyscraper photo taken in New York City in 1932, SpaceX said on X (formerly Twitter) that the engineers have spent “years” preparing for the booster catch, a feat that it’s planning to try for the first time with the upcoming fifth test flight of the Starship. It also included a photo of how the first-stage Super Heavy booster will look when clasped between the tower’s giant mechanical arms after launching the upper-stage Starship spacecraft to orbit.

Read more
SpaceX Crew-9 launch delayed again because of Tropical Storm Helene
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, is vertical at the launch pad of Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 launch to the International Space Station.

As Florida braces for the arrival of Tropical Storm Helene, the launch of NASA's Crew-9 mission from the Kennedy Space Center has once again been delayed. The launch of two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) was originally set for Thursday, September 26, but has now been pushed back to 1:17 p.m. ET Saturday, September 28.

"The change allows teams to complete a rehearsal of launch day activities Tuesday night with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, which rolled to Space Launch Complex-40 earlier in the day. Following rehearsal activities, the integrated system will move back to the hangar ahead of any potential storm activity," NASA wrote in an update. "Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the Florida panhandle, the storm system is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast."

Read more