On Monday, SpaceX seeks to double its record for annual launches

Enlarge / The Falcon 9 rocket and Koreasat-5A have gone vertical on Pad 39A in Florida. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has launched, on average, about 1.5 times per month during this year. From that perspective, the company's 16th launch of 2017 may not seem all that spectacular. After all, sending something like the Koreasat-5A commercial communications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit is becoming old hat for the new space company.

However, Monday's launch attempt is significant because it would double SpaceX's total number of launches for any given year, which was eight. Moreover, it is yet another commercial launch for SpaceX, which before 2017 had launched mostly government missions for NASA and NOAA. But this year, 11 of 16 SpaceX launches have been for private companies or foreign governments.

The launch window for Monday's attempt from Kennedy Space Center opens at 3:34pm ET and will remain open until 5:58pm ET. The webcast below should begin about 15 minutes before the launch window opens. After delivering the satellite into orbit, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage will attempt a landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" drone ship at just under 9 minutes after launch. The satellite will be deployed about 36 minutes after liftoff.

Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments