Watch Live Tuesday: 2 Rocket Launches and a Space Station Cargo Ship's Departure

By published

It's a busy day in space.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Es'Hail-2 communications satellite launches into space from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Nov. 15, 2018. SpaceX will reuse this rocket's first stage for the Amos-17 mission on Aug. 6.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Es'Hail-2 communications satellite launches into space from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Nov. 15, 2018. SpaceX will reuse this rocket's first stage for the Amos-17 mission on Aug. 6. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Update for 5 p.m. EDT: SpaceX has delayed the launch of the Amos-17 mission by 30 minutes to monitor weather conditions at the launch site. Liftoff is now scheduled for 7:23 p.m. EDT (2323 GMT), weather permitting. 
 

Today (Aug. 6) is going to be a big day in space! 

After a Cygnus cargo spacecraft departs the International Space Station this afternoon, SpaceX (opens in new tab) and Arianespace (opens in new tab) will be launching a total of three new communications satellites into orbit. You can watch all three events live here at Space.com (opens in new tab).
 

First up: Cygnus undocking (12:15 p.m. ET)

First, the Cygnus cargo ship will undock from the space station at 12:15 p.m. EDT (1615 GMT). NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch will use the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the vessel into the vacuum of space. NASA TV will provide live coverage of the send-off beginning 15 minutes prior to its departure. 

The Cygnus arrived at the space station in April (opens in new tab) with 7,600 lbs. (3,447 kilograms) of supplies and experiments for the astronauts on board. Instead of heading straight toward Earth to burn up in the atmosphere, as departing cargo ships typically do, this Cygnus will stay in orbit for a few months to test a new cubesat-deploying contraption called "SlingShot (opens in new tab)."

Above is a video of the last time a Cygnus spacecraft returned to Earth.
 

Ariane 5 rocket launch (3:30 p.m. ET)

Next, the European launch provider Arianespace will launch two communications satellites on an Ariane 5 rocket (opens in new tab). It will lift off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT). This will be the first launch for Arianespace since the company's Vega rocket experienced a launch failure in July.

For this mission, Arianespace is launching the Intelsat 39 telecommunications satellite, which will serve "broadband networking, video and government customers across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Indian Ocean region," according to Arianespace's description of the mission (opens in new tab).

The second satellite, named EDRS-C, will be the second satellite of the "SpaceDataHighway" — also known as the European Data Relay System (opens in new tab) — and will provide high-speed laser communications between satellites in low Earth orbit and ground tracking stations down on Earth. It will enable near-real-time processing of images and data from various Earth-observing satellites. 

A live webcast of this launch will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff. You can watch it here on Space.com (opens in new tab), courtesy of Arianespace, or directly via the company's YouTube (opens in new tab). 

This launch window is open until 5:51 p.m. EDT (2151 GMT). The Intelsat 29 satellite is expected to deploy 29 minutes after liftoff, and EDRS-C will follow just 4 minutes later.
 

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch (6:52 p.m. ET)

A vapor cloud forms around the nose of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Es'Hail-2 (opens in new tab) satellite into space in this dazzling photo of the launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 15, 2018. (Image credit: SpaceX )

Last but not least, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the Amos-17 satellite (opens in new tab). Amos-17 is a communications satellite built by Boeing for Spacecom Ltd. of Israel, and it will provide broadband connectivity over Africa, Europe and the Middle East. 

The Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a 1-hour, 28-minute launch window that opens at 6:52 p.m. EDT (2252 GMT). The mission was delayed from last week after SpaceX discovered a valve issue (opens in new tab) with the Falcon 9. 

You can watch the live webcast here on Space.com (opens in new tab), courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company's YouTube (opens in new tab).
 

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com (opens in new tab) or follow her @hannekescience (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab).

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering

Hanneke Weitering is an editor at Space.com with 10 years of experience in science journalism. She has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.