CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – SpaceX will resume launches and attempt a ground landing of its Falcon 9 first stage rocket on December 19 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
According to satellite manufacturer ORBCOMM, Inc., SpaceX is planning to conduct a static fire of its Falcon 9 rocket on December 16, 2015, which will launch eleven next generation OG2 satellites as part of ORBCOMM’s second and final OG2 Mission.
Once the static fire is completed to verify the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, ORBCOMM’s second OG2 Mission is targeted to launch about three days later on December 19, 2015 between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
This will be the first SpaceX launch following the explosion of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket over Florida back in June. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the launch date on Twitter where he tweeted, “Aiming for Falcon rocket static fire at Cape Canaveral on the 16th and launch about three days later.”
In addition to a resumption of SpaceX launches, this will also be the first time SpaceX has attempted a ground landing of the Falcon 9 first stage rocket during an orbital mission, according to statements made by NASA during a press conference last month.
If all goes as planned, the Falcon 9 landing will also mark the first time that any reusable part of an orbital mission launch has landed on Florida’s Space Coast since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program.
Image Credit: SpaceX
