SPACE AND NASA NEWS
- Date: Thursday, May 23
- Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
- Mission: SpaceX spacecraft will carry a Starlink satellite
- Launch Site: Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Launch Window: 10:30 p.m. to midnight
- Chance of favorable weather: TBD
From Port Canaveral to the Indian River Lagoon to the beaches, there are many easy-to-access sites along the Space Coast to watch Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral rocket launches. Florida's Space Coast has a great list of more than a dozen rocket launch viewing sites, with descriptions and maps. Check it out here!
JUNE 2019
- Date: Early June
- Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
- Mission: U.S. Air Force AEHF (Advanced Extremely High Frequency)-5 mission (military communications satellite)
- Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Launch Window: TBA
- Date: June 22
- Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon Heavy, reusing previous mission boosters
- Mission: Defense Department Space Test Program-2, sending 24 Air Force satellites as well as NASA and NOAA research into orbit
- Launch Site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Launch Window: TBA
JULY 2019
- Date: July 2
- Vehicle: Orion test vehicle aboard an Orbital ATK booster rocket
- Mission: Test of Orion's Ascent Abort-2. This will not go into space but will be a test of the spacecraft's capability to separate from a rocket during a launch abort. Orion test vehicle, which will eventually carry humans, will separate from booster at 31,000 feet
- Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Launch Window: TBA
- Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
- Mission: Dragon crew capsule flight test to ISS (with 2 NASA astronauts aboard)
- Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Launch Window: TBA
AUGUST 2019
- Vehicle: ULA Atlas V
- Mission: Boeing Starliner crew capsule flight test (capsule will be unmanned for test flight)
- Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Launch Window: TBA
LATE 2019
- Vehicle: ULA Altas V
- Mission: Boeing Starliner crew capsule flight test to ISS (with 2 crew members aboard)
- Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Launch Window: TBA
(Sources: SpaceX, NASA, United Launch Alliance, 45th Space Wing, Boeing, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Lockheed Martin)
SPACE LINKS
SPACE SHUTTLES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
ATLANTIS: Kennedy Space Center
- Space shuttle Atlantis launched on its last mission at 11:29 a.m. July 8, 2011.
- The shuttle program ended with the landing of Atlantis on Thursday, July 21 at 5:57 a.m.
- Atlantis was NASA's fourth space shuttle orbiter to join the fleet.
ENDEAVOUR: California Science Center, Los Angeles
- Space shuttle Endeavour launched on its final mission Monday, May 16, 2011.
- After a journey of 6.5 million miles, the orbiter landed for the final time at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 1, 2011.
DISCOVERY: Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
- Discovery was NASA's reliable workhorse, spending more than a quarter century carrying crews, satellites and space station parts.
- In 1990, Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
- Final flight: Feb. 24, 2011.
ENTERPRISE: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York City
- Enterprise was a prototype shuttle, rolling out of a California assembly facility on Sept. 17, 1976. After its success, Columbia became the 1st shuttle in space.
- It was originally to be named Constitution, but a write-in campaign by fans of the TV show Star Trek got it renamed.
SOURCES: Information and images on this page are from NASA, United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.