SpaceX is set to launch the SES ASTRA 1P mission aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The launch window from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) opens at 5.35pm ET (10.35pm UK) and will last for two hours and 49 minutes, you can watch the launch live here. A backup launch is available for Elon Musk's company the following day on Wednesday with the same window time frame.
ASTRA 1P/SES-24, is a "classic wide-beam satellite" that will support SES’s prime TV neighbourhood and allows content owners, private and public broadcasters across Germany, France and Spain to continue broadcasting satellite TV channels in the "highest-picture quality in the most cost-efficient manner", according to the Kennedy Space Center.
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Elon Musk has major plans for SpaceX that expand across the solar system (Getty Images)The launch was originally set for Monday but instead moved to Tuesday after SpaceX scrapped its deployment of 22 Starlink internet satellites moments before the take-off was due last Friday. The last-second abort came as the engines were igniting, which halted the countdown.
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Vice President of Launch at Space X Kiko Dontchev, announced in a tweet on the following evening: "Tough week dealing with production challenges and then a rare scrub at engine startup yesterday on 10-2. Unfortunately there is a real issue so we need to go inspect the hardware in detail on this vehicle. Rocket will get set to the side and we’ll pivot to SES as the rocket and payload are ready to rock. Painful, but safety and reliability are the priority."
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) on May 28 of this year (Gene Blevins/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US
This is the ninth flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, according to SpaceX's site, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, and four Starlink missions. For visitors at the Kennedy Space Center today, the viewing area opens at 4.30pm ET and is around 6.7 miles from the launch itself.
However, if the launch has not happened by 6pm ET then viewers will be asked to leave due to the centre's operating hours closing. For anyone else keen to watch the launch, a live webcast of this mission will start on X @SpaceX approximately 15 minutes before liftoff.
Space X founder Musk claimed last month that he wanted to "expand consciousness to Mars" and beyond prior to another one of his launches, which he has already seen 60 of so far this year. The entrepreneur, 52, posted on X on May 14: "SpaceX’s mission is to extend consciousness to Mars and then the stars." One eager user replied: "Can’t wait to see the first human get flown to mars, hope it will be in our lifetime."
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