After multiple weather delays, SpaceX and NASA are once again preparing to launch a central Earth and climate satellite attached to a Falcon 9 rocket early Thursday morning.
NASA is providing live coverage of the launch, now scheduled for 1:33 a.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 8 from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. You can watch the launch live from the embedded video at the top of the page or on NASA's YouTube channel.
You can also register as a virtual guest to attend the launch, which comes with updates, curated resources, and mission-specific information delivered to your inbox. After each activity, you can also receive commemorative stamps for your virtual guest passport.
While weather was a factor in canceling the last two scheduled launches of the mission, the Space Force says weather conditions on Wednesday into early Thursday morning look "very favorable," with only a low risk of cumulus clouds.
The launch will see a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carry a spacecraft called PACE, which stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem. The mission will help NASA "understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide, measure key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and Earth's climate and monitor ocean health," according to the agency.
According to Spaceflight Now, the upcoming mission will be the first time in over 60 years that a U.S. government mission has aimed for a polar orbit from Cape Canaveral. Such launches were halted after a failed launch in 1960 caused debris to fall on Havana, killing a cow and sparking protests.
Contributing: Doc Louallen, USA TODAY.
