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    • Live updates from the ISS resupply mission at the Cape
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    Live updates from the ISS resupply mission at the Cape

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Scroll down and refresh your phone to receive live updates on the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team launch on this page.

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    It’s another launch day! NASA and SpaceX are teaming up on a mission tonight to send a Dragon spacecraft filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station.

    Welcome to the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team’s live coverage of the CRS-31 resupply mission tonight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    The 230-foot-long Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from pad 39A at 9:29 p.m. EST and then ascend on a northeast trajectory. After stage separation, the first stage booster is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, producing sonic booms.

    Today’s launch marks SpaceX’s 31st resupply mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA. The Dragon capsule is scheduled to dock with the ISS at around 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday.

    “The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until December, then leave the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with research results and cargo, landing off the coast of Florida,” a NASA press release said.

    Next up on the Eastern Range calendar, SpaceX will again attempt to launch the Starlink 6-77 mission on Election Day. New target time: 4:27 p.m. Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The original countdown was interrupted on Sunday due to a helium problem in the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.

    Rocket photography: FLORIDA TODAY’s 2025 space launch calendar is here

    Update 9:37 p.m.: Falcon 9’s first stage booster has just landed in Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

    Update 9:29 p.m.: SpaceX has just launched the Falcon 9 and cargo-laden Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, brightly lighting up the night sky as seen from the press site.

    Update 9:24 p.m The countdown clock continues to tick. Five minutes until takeoff.

    Update 9:19 p.m.: Today’s mission marks the fifth flight of the Falcon 9 first stage, SpaceX reported.

    The booster previously launched Crew-8, Polaris Dawn and two Starlink missions.

    After stage separation, crews expect the launch vehicle to land back at the Cape 7 minutes and 49 seconds after liftoff, producing sonic booms across central Florida.

    Update 9:11 p.m.: SpaceX’s CRS-31 launch webcast is now posted above, just below our countdown clock.

    The start is planned in 18 minutes from KSC.

    Update 9:02 p.m.: Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at SpaceX’s upcoming countdown timeline. T-minus:

    • 16 minutes: Loading with liquid oxygen of the second stage begins.
    • 7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine cooling before launch.
    • 1 minute: The command flight computer begins the final checks before takeoff. Pressurization of the fuel tank to flight pressure begins.
    • 45 seconds: SpaceX launch director confirms launch is possible.
    • 3 seconds: The engine control commands the start of the engine ignition sequence.
    • 0 seconds: Lift up.

    Update 8:54 p.m.: SpaceX just announced that Falcon 9 refueling is underway at Airfield 39A.

    This means that the countdown for today’s CRS-31 mission is now underway and the launch can take place at 21:29 without delays, otherwise the launch will have to be postponed.

    Update 8:40 p.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency’s launch support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.

    Update 8:30 p.m.: This morning, SpaceX officials released a quartet of photos of the CRS-31 Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule on the launch pad.

    Update 8:15 p.m.: Given the dangerous weather outlook, National Weather Service meteorologists warn that wind gusts of up to 30 mph and 35 mph are expected along the Space Coast and Treasure Coast during the evening and overnight hours.

    Easterly winds were forecast to increase tonight and swells would increase to 9 to 11 feet offshore. A high risk of rip currents remains late into the night. A high surf warning was also issued at 7 p.m. and will be in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday.

    Update 8:04 p.m.: NASA officials noted that Saturday marked the 24th anniversary of the agency and its partners’ sustained human presence in space.

    “To put that in perspective, this means that no one under the age of 24 has ever lived a day without people living continuously in space,” Dana Weigel, NASA’s ISS program manager, said in a tweet Saturday.

    “After more than a quarter century of operation, the space station continues to serve as a world-class laboratory, experiencing many innovations and scientific breakthroughs and improving life on our home planet every day,” Weigel said.

    Update 7:52 p.m.: The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron put the probability of launch weather for today’s mission at 70%.

    Main concerns: cumulus clouds, lift-off winds and flight through precipitation.

    “High pressure currently prevailing across the northeastern United States will shift eastward into the northwest Atlantic over the next few days, with a tropical cyclone likely developing over the Caribbean Sea,” said the squadron’s forecast Sunday ahead of the cyclone Rafael was released to life.

    “The resulting strengthening and deepening of the onshore current locally will support intermittent showers rolling into the spaceport from the Atlantic,” the forecast said.

    For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

    Rick Neale is a space reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

    Space is important to us, which is why we work to bring you the best coverage of the industry and launches in Florida. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

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