SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida with supplies for the current NASA crew aboard the International Space Station next week — and it will bring a pre-sunset sonic boom to the Space Coast.
SpaceX has an instantaneous launch opportunity at 7:16 p.m. Tuesday, May 12 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Due to the spacecraft traveling to the orbiting space station, the liftoff must occur on time.
If needed, SpaceX has a backup launch opportunity at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.
The mission, referred to as CRS-34, marks SpaceX’s 34th Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA. The company is contracted by the agency to send a Cargo Drago spacecraft full of supplies and science to ISS for the astronauts.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is also contracted by NASA for space station resupply missions. The last resupply mission was on April 11 when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Cygnus XL to the ISS.
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Expect an evening sonic boom, as the rocket’s first stage booster will come back for a landing at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 40, which is located near the launch site. The landing will occur just under eight minutes after liftoff, and a sonic boom will sound throughout Brevard County just afterward.
The FLORIDA TODAY Space Team will have live updates beginning 90 minutes before the evening liftoff at FloridaToday.com/Space.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket launch from Florida Tuesday set to deliver cargo for NASA