SpaceX will launch secret US government satellite on Friday , II SpaceX launch LIVE stream: Watch Falcon 9 rocket take off with secret Zuma payload TONIGHT , II
THE FIRST SpaceX launch of the year is set to blast off tonight. Watch the SpaceX Falcon 9 Zuma rocket launch right here.
The SpaceX webcast above will stream all the action from the launch live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
The launch has been pushed back to Sunday January 7 with the two-hour launch window between 8pm EST to 10pm EST (1am and 3am GMT on January 8).
Viewers are set to see SpaceX deliver a “restricted payload” into low orbit on behalf of the US Government and aerospace and defence company Northrop Grumman.
The contents of the Zuma payload have been kept under tight wraps, but it is understood to be a US Government satellite.
The two-stage Falcon will deliver Zuma into low orbit tonight, before part of the rocket returns to Earth and lands at SpaceX’s landing site in Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX initially pencilled in a mid-November launch date for Zuma, but postponed the launch date to analyse data from a previous mission.
In November 2017, it emerged that the US Government mission had contracted out to SpaceX in a bid to cut down on the cost of space travel.
Lon Rains, communications director at Northrop Grumman's Space Systems Division, told Express.co.uk: “The US Government assigned Northrop Grumman the responsibility of cquiring launch services for this mission.
“We have procured the Falcon 9 launch service from SpaceX.
"As a company, Northrop Grumman realises that this is monumental responsibility and have taken great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma.
"The Zuma payload is a restricted payload. It will be launched into Low Earth Orbit."
On Wednesday SpaceX confirmed a successful propellant test on the Falcon 9 rocket on Pad 40 of the KSC.
If tonight's launch cannot take place as planned, there is a backup two-hour launch window opens at 8pm EST on January 8 (1am on January 9)
THE FIRST SpaceX launch of the year is set to blast off tonight. Watch the SpaceX Falcon 9 Zuma rocket launch right here.
The SpaceX webcast above will stream all the action from the launch live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
The launch has been pushed back to Sunday January 7 with the two-hour launch window between 8pm EST to 10pm EST (1am and 3am GMT on January 8).
Viewers are set to see SpaceX deliver a “restricted payload” into low orbit on behalf of the US Government and aerospace and defence company Northrop Grumman.
The contents of the Zuma payload have been kept under tight wraps, but it is understood to be a US Government satellite.
The two-stage Falcon will deliver Zuma into low orbit tonight, before part of the rocket returns to Earth and lands at SpaceX’s landing site in Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX initially pencilled in a mid-November launch date for Zuma, but postponed the launch date to analyse data from a previous mission.
In November 2017, it emerged that the US Government mission had contracted out to SpaceX in a bid to cut down on the cost of space travel.
Lon Rains, communications director at Northrop Grumman's Space Systems Division, told Express.co.uk: “The US Government assigned Northrop Grumman the responsibility of cquiring launch services for this mission.
“We have procured the Falcon 9 launch service from SpaceX.
SpaceX
"As a company, Northrop Grumman realises that this is monumental responsibility and have taken great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma.
"The Zuma payload is a restricted payload. It will be launched into Low Earth Orbit."
On Wednesday SpaceX confirmed a successful propellant test on the Falcon 9 rocket on Pad 40 of the KSC.
If tonight's launch cannot take place as planned, there is a backup two-hour launch window opens at 8pm EST on January 8 (1am on January 9).
First images of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket
Later this month, the SpaceX will prepare the Falcon Heavy for its maiden voyage on a “billion year” long orbit around Mars.
The Falcon Heavy is a bigger cargo rocket comprised of three Falcon 9 boosters and will deliver a vey special payload – a cherry red Tesla Roadster.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he planned to spice up the otherwise “boring” rocket test by fitting it with one of his company’s cars with David Bowie’s Space Oddity on loop.
He posted on Instagram: "Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks.
“Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel.
“The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing Space Oddity, on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit.”
The next SpaceX launch will deliver Saudi Arabia’s communication satellite Arabsat 6A on the Falcon Heavy from a Florida launch site
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Little is known about classified payload of SpaceX's first 2018 launch.
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