SpaceX set for Falcon 9 launch with communication satellite on June 9; How to watch live

SpaceX is targeting its 23rd launch of the year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 8 at 5:04 p.m. EDT [ June 9 at 2:34 a.m. IST]. The launch will be conducted to loft an Egyptian communications satellite, Nilesat 301 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit using a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket. According to SpaceX, the launch window would last for two hours and 29 minutes and a backup launch opportunity is available the next day at the same time. You can watch the launch live on SpaceX's Twitter handle or YouTube channel by tuning in ten minutes before the liftoff.

Earlier today, SpaceX tweeted an update about the mission and revealed that the weather near the launch site is 60% favourable for a Falcon 9 launch. If everything goes as per the plan, the rocket would liftoff at the scheduled time and launch the satellite into orbit. About half-time after the launch, the payload in the first stage of the rocket will separate from the second stage booster, which would land nine minutes later on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship stationed in the Atlantic ocean. About 33 minutes after the liftoff, the satellite will be deployed in a geostationary orbit at 35,800 kilometers.

SpaceX revealed that the booster for the forthcoming launch would fly for the seventh time and supported several crucial missions. Previously, the booster has been used in missions such as GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, and two Starlink missions.

 In addition to this, the booster was also used in SpaceX's two commercial missions Inspiration4, which flew the first all-private crew to space in November, and Axiom Space's Axiom-1 (Ax-1) mission which concluded in April. 

SpaceX launches this year

So far, SpaceX has carried out rocket launches at the rate of one every week to achieve CEO Elon Musk's aim of 60 launches this year. While most of the company's missions have been dedicated to Starlink, the satellite broadband service, SpaceX's most interesting mission was its recent one, wherein carried the remains of 47 people to space. The remains headed to the orbit attached to the launched satellites thanks to space company Celestis, which offers space cremation services Tap here to read all about it.