How to Watch the Launch of the First Commercial NASA / SpaceX Mission
After decades of space travel and a 24-hour delay, NASA embarks on a commercial flight. Later today, NASA is set to launch its first SpaceX operational commercial mission, known as Crew 1, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bound for the International Space Station. Here’s how to watch .
Why was the launch delayed?
The launch was originally scheduled to take place yesterday but has been delayed due to conditions caused by Tropical Storm Eta, which would have impacted SpaceX’s drone ship rocket lift operations. But unlike most flight delays, this means the trip will take about three times as long as it was yesterday, resulting in an 8.5 hour trip taking about 27 hours, “due to the way the orbital mechanics are lined up.” , is NASA’s commercial crew program. Manager Steve Stich announced this to reporters at a briefing .
The delay means the Crew-1 astronauts will spend the night aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft . “This gives them more opportunities to try Dragon, ” Reed said . “I’m pretty sure there are a couple of broadcasts that they can do during this time period and, you know, check what happens by watching the Earth go by.”
How to watch the launch
Today (Sunday, Nov.15) at 7:27 pm EST, SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts will take off in the Dragon, nicknamed Resilience, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch the live stream from today at 3:15 pm EST on NASA TV (or below). It will continue during the launch, flight and docking of the spacecraft to the ISS, which is scheduled for Monday, November 16 at 11:00 pm ET. You can tune in here:
If the launch does not take place today, it will be delayed until Wednesday (November 18), when NASA and SpaceX will try again.