Just moments ago, the first and second stages of the Falcon Heavy center core separated, and the second stage engine started.
Separation of First and Second Stages, Second Engine Starts
Launch Vehicle Reaches Max Q, Booster Engines Cutoff
The Falcon Heavy passed Max Q, or the moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket, and reached booster engine cutoff (BECO), where both boosters cease firing and separate from the center core to begin their descent back to Earth. The side boosters have begun their journey back to Landing Zones 1 and 2 at …
Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche and DSOC Experiment!
We have liftoff! NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, along with the agency’s DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) technology demonstration, launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:19 a.m. EDT. The Falcon Heavy’s 27 Merlin engines are generating more than 5,000,000 pounds of thrust, quickly pushing the vehicle through the atmosphere and away …
NASA Launch Manager Gives ‘Go’ for Launch
The NASA launch manager, Tim Dunn, has just given NASA’s Psyche mission a “go” for launch! Mission and launch managers are counting down to the liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This will be the first interplanetary mission for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. This …
Weather Is Still 85% Go
We are about 10 minutes from launch, and the weather outlook for NASA’s Psyche launch from Kennedy Space Center remains outstanding. Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict an 85% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff of NASA’s mission to the asteroid Psyche.
NASA’s Psyche: By the Numbers
In approximately 20 minutes, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida on a first-of-its-kind mission for the agency. Let’s look at some facts and figures that make the Psyche mission unique: This will be the first time NASA has …
Second Stage Fueling Started
SpaceX confirms fueling for the second stage of the Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the Psyche spacecraft is underway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Three Falcon 9 engine cores, each housing nine Merlin engines, make up the Falcon Heavy and combine to generate more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff – equal to …
NASA Begins Live Broadcast of Psyche Mission
NASA just ramped up its coverage of today’s Psyche launch, as the live broadcast with commentary has now begun. Tune in to NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, X, Facebook, Twitch, Daily Motion, or the NASA UHD channel starting now for launch day commentary, interviews, and everything you need to know about the launch of …
First Stage Fueling Started
Moments ago, mission teams polled “go” to begin fueling the Falcon Heavy’s three first-stage core boosters. The Falcon Heavy is a two-stage rocket with a central core and two side boosters that uses RP-1 (a refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) to fuel its 27 Merlin engines, which combine to generate 5,000,000 pounds of thrust. …
Watch NASA’s Psyche Mission Technical Feed
Live Psyche launch coverage without commentary has begun on the NASA Television media channel. The NASA Television media channel provides clean feeds of the agency’s news, briefings, and conferences, daily video files from around the agency, and the only available feeds of mission coverage that contain only mission audio and natural sound. The live launch …