CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Space Coast will host yet another early morning launch next weekend when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral, marking the fourth mission in a row targeting a pre-dawn liftoff.
News 6 partner Florida Today reports that while exact times have not yet been confirmed, a warning to pilots and mariners issued by the Air Force's 45th Space Wing indicated that the area around Launch Complex 40 must be clear between 11:15 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, and 3:15 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 4. SpaceX's opportunity to launch will be within that window, likely after midnight.
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The rocket's first stage is expected to target an autonomous drone ship landing shortly after liftoff and return to Port Canaveral a few days later. The Air Force will release a weather forecast by Wednesday.
Secured inside the Falcon 9's protective nose cone, or fairing, will be Merah Putih, a 12,800-pound commercial communications satellite also known as Telkom-4 for PT Telkom Indonesia. The name refers to the red and white of the Indonesian flag, according to California-based SSL, which built the spacecraft.
Its mission: Provide communications services to the 17,000 islands of the Indonesian archipelago, India and parts of Southeast Asia over the course of its 15-year lifespan.
Merah Putih kicks off a busy August for the Space Coast, which will host another early morning launch when NASA's high-profile Parker Solar Probe takes flight on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 37 at 3:48 a.m. on Aug. 11. SpaceX is also expected to launch at least one more Falcon 9 from the Cape next month.