Falcon Heavy’s launch of the Psyche Mission - LIVE

SpaceX and NASA are targeting Friday, October 13 at 10:19 a.m. ET for Falcon Heavy’s launch of the Psyche mission to an interplanetary transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on Saturday, October 14 at 10:24 a.m. ET.

The Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Mars in pursuit of studying the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. The mission will also demonstrate NASA’s first deep space test of the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system – high-bandwidth optical communications through space and back to Earth – from distances far exceeding the Moon – using a near-infrared laser.

This will be the fourth launch for the side boosters, both of which previously supported USSF-44, USSF-67, and Hughes JUPTER 3. Following stage separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA TV about 45 minutes prior to liftoff.