The first launch is a Delta IV-Heavy scheduled for 12:14am eastern on Sept 26, 2020. That’s a night launch in the very early hours of Saturday morning – or just after midnight on Friday night, depending on how you look at it.

While that’s technically a launch on Saturday, anyone going out to see the launch in person will certainly be driving out there Friday night.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV-Heavy rocket will launch from pad 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This launch had been attempted earlier on August 29. But the flight was halted just 3 seconds prior to lift-off due to a technical issue.

Onboard the Delta 4 is a classified spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

For anyone who can make it out to see the launch in person, it will be well worth the drive. A night launch of a rocket of this size will be something you will never forget.

The Delta IV-Heavy is the largest of the Delta IV family. It is the closest thing to what a night launch of the Space Shuttle was like.

With its 3 booster rockets mounted together, the launch will light up the midnight sky as if the Sun were rising out of the ground. Even from miles away, the Delta 4 will turn night into day all around you. It’s truly something that has to be experienced.

Second Rocket Launch of the Weekend

The second launch from the Space Center is also a rescheduled event.

On September 17, SpaceX scrubbed its latest launch attempt for a Falcon 9. Bad weather in the recovery zone for the Falcon 9 booster’s landing was to blame.

Instead, the Falcon 9 Starlink 12 rocket launch is now scheduled for 10:43am eastern on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Falcon 9 will blast off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. On this mission, it will put into orbit another 60 of the SpaceX Starlink Satellites.

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For those who lived in or visited the area around the Kennedy Space Center, referred to as Florida’s Space Coast, during the Space Shuttle era, they will remember that opportunities to see a rocket launch came only a few times a year.

With the entrance of private space launch companies like SpaceX in recent years, that situation has changed dramatically. This week, in fact, will likely see a record for rocket launches from the Space Center.

In the span of just a few days, there will in be 3 rocket launches – beginning on Thursday.

Launch 1

In a matter of hours, the first of these launches will be a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 2:04 AM ET on August 29, 2020.

The Delta IV Heavy, the largest of its kind, will lift off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch complex 37 – just south of the Kennedy Space Center.

Carried aloft by three large booster rockets, the launch of the Delta IV Heavy should be easy to see from Eastern and Central Florida against the dark night sky.

The rocket will carry a classified spy satellite into orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Launch 2

In what will be a record setting week, the second rocket launch in just three days is scheduled to take place around 10:08 am on Sunday morning, August 30.

Like the Falcon 9 from a couple weeks ago, Saturday’s Falcon 9 will carry another of the company’s 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. This is part of SpaceX’s mission to build a constellation of satellites which will provide affordable broadband internet to even the most remote parts of the planet.

But if you miss either one of these launches, don’t worry – there’s yet another one coming up.

Launch 3

On Sunday, August 30th, SpaceX will be launching two of its Falcon 9 Rockets on the same day! The second of these will be Sunday evening, at 7:19 pm eastern time.

On this mission, Falcon 9 will lift-off carrying a SAOCOM 1B Earth observation satellite for Argentina. This launch for Elon Musk’s company is the third SpaceX Falcon 9 to fly in just the last few weeks.

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