SpaceX will be launching a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office today from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is at 2:16:25 PM, in an instantaneous window, and about 8.5 minutes later, the booster used for the mission will land at LZ-2 inside Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Expect a sonic boom to rattle the windows a short time afterwards as the booster heralds its return.

At A Glance

Weather

Weather is just about perfect, according the 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45. Their Launch Mission Execution Forecast gives a greater than 95% chance of acceptable weather at launch time:

Trajectory

NROL-76 is expected to have a launch azimuth of ~43–45°, or northeast.

Online Viewing

SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: NROL-77  This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

If you are watching in person on the Space Coast, remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Author: Charles Boyer

NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.