SpaceX will launch 59
small satellites to orbit and land the returning rocket today (May 25), and you can watch the action live.
A two-stage Falcon 9
rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today during a 57-minute window that opens at 2:27 p.m. EDT on a mission called Transporter 5
If all goes according to plan,
the Falcon 9's first stage will come back to Earth for a vertical touchdown at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1 about nine minutes after launch.
Transporter 5 is a
"rideshare" mission that will loft a variety of small satellites for a number of different customers.
One of those customers is
Canada-based GHGSat, which operates a network of spacecraft that detect methane emissions from orbit. Three GHGSat spacecraft are going up on today's flight.
Transporter 5 will be the
22nd Falcon 9 launch in 2022 and the 155th for the rocket overall. The mission will also mark the eighth flight of this particular Falcon 9 first stage