Photo: Charle Boyer / Florida Media Now
FAA clears one-off license for Falcon 9 for this launch only
SpaceX and the European Space Agency are planning to launch ESA’s Hera probe from Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, October 7th. The launch window extends from 10:52 AM – 11:27 AM EDT.
Launch At A Glance:
- Date: NET October 7, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX / European Space Agency
- Mission: Hera
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: 10:52 AM – 11:27 AM EDT
- Payload: Hera Probe
- Booster Landing Site: Expended
Falcon Family Returns To Flight For This Launch Only
The flight will mark the return to flight for Falcon family rockets after the September 28, 2024 launch of Crew 9 from Cape Canaveral. After launching NASA’s Crew 9 mission with Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA Astronaut Nick Hague aboard Crew Dragon on their mission to the International Space Station, the second stage of Falcon 9 separated from the capsule and was later commanded to fire its engine one last time in order for it to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
A specific area in the Pacific Ocean was targeted so as to minimize any risk of surviving debris causing injuries or property damage. The second stage’s final burn was “off-nominal,” according to SpaceX, and the stage re-entered outside of its designated area. SpaceX immediately announced it was “pausing” Falcon 9 flights while it investigated the matter and two days later, the FAA announced that it was requiring a formal investigation into the incident.
That investigation put the Monday, October 7 target date for Hera’s launch in doubt, but SpaceX has been given a special exemption for the Hera flight because the second stage will not be re-entering Earth orbit:
Assuming a successful LRR (Launch Readiness Review), Falcon 9 will again soar over Florida skies tomorrow morning.
Payload
According to ESA, “Hera is a planetary defence mission under development at the European Space Agency. Its objectives are to investigate the Didymos binary asteroid, including the very first assessment of its internal properties, and to measure in great detail the outcome of NASA’s DART mission kinetic impactor test. Hera will provide extremely valuable information for future asteroid deflection missions and science; increasing our understanding of asteroid geophysics as well as solar system formation and evolutionary processes.”
ESA: Hera Mission page
Weather
The 45th Weather Wing has not released a Probability of Violation forecast for this launch as of 11:00 AM EDT on Sunday.
Don’t expect a rosy forecast from the 45th, however. The National Weather Service’s general forecast for Cape Canaveral Monday currently calls for “Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.”
And after that, things will only get worse as a tropical system approaches the area midweek.
We will update this article with the official POV forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron when it becomes available.
Trajectory
Eastward towards an equatorial orbit.
Online Viewing
SpaceX will have a live stream of the launch on its website. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.
Launch Viewing: In Person
Since the launch is during the morning, a lot of options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets.
Cocoa Beach will have great views of the launch once it clears any obstructions from the rising rocket and a viewer’s location.
Playalinda Beach is several miles north of the launch pad, but ignition and of course the flight of the rocket are visible from that location. If you go, go early in case the crowds are heavy.
This flight is one where the booster will be expended after its duty cycle. This is being done in order to get the maximum performance possible out of the launch vehicle. That in mind, there will be no sonic boom in the Space Coast region for a returning booster.
