Updates: SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy on a mission for NASA from Kennedy Space Center

Jamie Groh, Rick Neale and Craig Bailey, Florida Today
Updated 8 min read
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Update: Liftoff of SpaceX's triple-core Falcon Heavy with NASA's Psyche spacecraft at 10:19 a.m. EDT on Friday from Kennedy Space Center, followed by a double booster landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station a short time later. Read our full post launch story here.

It's SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch (and landing) day!

Watch above and follow live updates below as SpaceX teams at Kennedy Space Center in Florida work toward liftoff of a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket packed with NASA's Psyche spacecraft, followed shortly after by a double booster landing attempt at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Liftoff of the Psyche mission is set for 10:19 a.m. EDT, pending favorable weather conditions.

Updates from Friday's event below:

SpaceX's NASA Psyche countdown

The boosters have landed:

10:29 a.m. EDT: The Falcon Heavy's dual side boosters have landed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Landing Zones 1 and 2.

— Jamie Groh

Liftoff!

10:19 a.m. EDT: The SpaceX triple-core Falcon Heavy has launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying NASA's Psyche spacecraft on a mission to study a metal-rich asteroid.

Sonic boom reminder: Expect sonic booms as the double side boosters target landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in about eight minutes.

— Jamie Groh

One minute until liftoff:

10:18 a.m. EDT: With less than one minute until liftoff, SpaceX and NASA remain "go" for launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

— Jamie Groh

T-minus 10 minutes until SpaceX Falcon Heavy liftoff:

10:09 a.m. EDT: SpaceX and NASA continue to countdown to an on time liftoff at 10:19 a.m. EDT of the Falcon Heavy Psyche mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The weather conditions around the spaceport remain "go," and all pre-flight procedures are on track.

Sonic boom reminder: About eight minutes after liftoff this morning, the dual side boosters will target a landing back at Landing Zone 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The return trip will trigger largely harmless – but oftentimes startling – sonic booms as the vehicles cross the speed-of-sound threshold. They only last a fraction of a second but can be heard within a 100-mile radius depending on trajectory, humidity, cloud cover, wind direction, and more.

— Jamie Groh

T-minus 30 minutes until SpaceX Falcon Heavy liftoff:

9:49 a.m. EDT: Here's a look at the remaining milestones to get through during this morning's countdown:

T-minus:

  • 00:18:30 minutes 2nd stage LOX loading begins

  • 00:07:00 minutes Falcon Heavy begins engine chill

  • 00:00:59 seconds Flight computer commanded to begin final pre-launch checks

  • 00:00:45 seconds SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch

  • 00:00:20 seconds Propellant tanks pressurize for flight

  • 00:00:06 seconds Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start

  • 00:00:00 Falcon Heavy liftoff

— Jamie Groh

SpaceX, NASA "Go" for launch:

9:25 a.m. EDT: Both NASA and SpaceX teams at Kennedy Space Center have given the "go" command to proceed with propellant load of the triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket at pad 39A. That will begin at T-minus 50 minutes.

— Jamie Groh

Jim and Maureen Tingwald of Branson, Missouri, secured seats at the top of the east-facing bleachers at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex launch viewing zone. Jim surprised Maureen for their 25th wedding anniversary by booking a 10-day Orlando vacation. The couple drove from their condominium to the Space Coast to watch their first-ever launch out of curiosity’s sake.

“To come experience it in person is just exciting,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.

— Rick Neale

T-minus one hour until SpaceX Falcon Heavy liftoff:

9:19 a.m. EDT: With under an hour to go until liftoff, all systems are looking good and the weather around Kennedy Space Center appears to still be tracking favorable for liftoff. A call to begin fueling procedures should be coming up in about seven minutes. Stay tuned.

— Jamie Groh

NASA's Psyche mission background:

9:15 a.m. EDT: The Falcon Heavy's payload today is NASA's Psyche spacecraft designed to study a metal-rich asteroid by the same name located between Mars and Jupiter. The Psyche mission is NASA's first science mission to fly aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which features two recycled side boosters flying for the fourth time.

The Psyche mission has the following science objectives:

  • Understand iron cores, a previously unexplored component of planet formation.

  • Determine whether Psyche is a core, or if it is unmelted material

  • Determine the relative ages of regions of Psyche’s surface

  • Determine whether small metal bodies incorporate the same light elements as are expected in the Earth’s high-pressure core

  • Determine whether Psyche was formed under conditions more oxidizing or more reducing than Earth’s core

  • Characterize Psyche’s morphology by measuring its topography

— Jamie Groh

SpaceX launch today: Welcome to live coverage

8:55 a.m. EDT: Good morning, all, and welcome to our Space Team live coverage updates of SpaceX's NASA Psyche mission launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams are working toward an on time liftoff this morning at 10:19 a.m. EDT from pad 39A. Weather conditions for launch this morning have improved to 85% "go."

The SpaceX launch director is expected to give a final confirmation of whether or not to proceed with fueling the triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket at T-minus 53 minutes. Stay tuned for more frequent updates as we proceed through today's countdown.

— Jamie Groh

At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Psyche spectators are slowly filtering into sets of bleachers at a launch viewing area facing NASA Parrkway, about seven miles from pad 39A. Blue skies with light puffy clouds are now visible overhead, in stark contrast with rainfall and heavy cloud cover earlier this morning in Central Brevard.

Holding a microphone, communicator John Ference triggered a round of applause when he announced the Psyche weather forecast had improved to 85% “go” conditions. “Nothing has changed. The weather is getting better as we speak. We are still on time for a 10:19 launch,” Ference announced.

— Rick Neale

When is liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Psyche mission?

Liftoff from pad 39A on Friday morning is slated for 10:19 a.m. EDT.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft must launch from KSC exactly on time or delay until another day to escape Earth's gravitational pull and make the 2.2 billion mile journey to study the 144-mile-long, potato-shaped 16 Psyche asteroid.

Teams have daily opportunities to launch the first interplanetary mission aboard a Falcon Heavy through October 25 if needed.

'Asteroid Autumn': NASA's Psyche mission to orbit and study rare metallic asteroid

What's the weather like for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Psyche launch?

"Showers and storms are expected at the spaceport late Thursday, lasting through the Friday launch window. Primary weather concerns at launch are the anvil cloud, thick cloud layers, and cumulus cloud rules," NASA said Thursday in a release.

If needed, the next available launch window is at 10:24 a.m. EDT Saturday.

According to NASA, "Weather officials forecast a 70% chance of favorable conditions for (Saturday's) launch opportunity, with the cumulus cloud rule as the primary weather concern."

Will there be sonic booms?

If the rumble of nearly 5 million pounds of thrust produced by 27 Merlin main engines at liftoff isn't enough to capture attention, then window-rattling, low-frequency sonic booms generated by tandem booster landings at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station minutes later should be.

About three minutes into Falcon Heavy's flight, the side boosters will shut down and simultaneously fall away from the center core, which will continue on to help push NASA's Psyche spacecraft to a distant orbit between Mars and Jupiter.

The dual booster landing of the Falcon Heavy will sound like two slightly separated booms as the boosters target Landing Zone 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral. Each Falcon 9 booster generates a triple boom on its way back for landing, though by the time the noise reaches spectators on the ground, it's interpreted as one combined sound.

The largely harmless – but oftentimes startling – sonic booms occur when a vehicle crosses the speed-of-sound threshold. They only last a fraction of a second but can be heard within a 100-mile radius depending on trajectory, humidity, cloud cover, wind direction, and more.

What is NASA's Psyche mission?

"Psyche’s mission is to study an asteroid that may be like Earth’s core, composed of a mixture of rock and iron-nickel metal," NASA said in a release. "The asteroid offers a unique window into these building blocks of planet formation and the opportunity to investigate a previously unexplored type of world."

According to NASA, it will take the spacecraft about six years to complete the journey to its final home in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

When is the next SpaceX rocket launch?

The next liftoff expected from the Space Coast is tentatively set to be another SpaceX Falcon 9 with more Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station slated for liftoff Friday evening.

For the latest schedule updates, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X at @AlteredJamie.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Updates: SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches NASA's Psyche from KSC

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