SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — SpaceX is gearing up for another rocket launch from Southern California.
The company has scheduled Falcon 9’s launch of the EarthCARE satellite from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.
The launch will be streamed live on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the launch live on ESA WebTV or ESA YouTube.
Developed with The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the ESA EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) mission is designed to take measurements that will shed a new light on the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth’s climate.
According to ESA, EarthCARE will, for the first time, measure vertical profiles of cloud particles and aerosols, and their fall speed – providing new insights into interactions between clouds, aerosols and precipitation. It will also register the distribution of water droplets and ice crystals and how they are transported in clouds.
SpaceX says this will be the seventh flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and two Starlink missions.
ESA says EarthCARE will orbit Earth at an altitude of around 400 km, which is as low as possible, to optimize the use of both lidar and radar. EarthCARE will fly in a polar orbit, crossing the equator in the early afternoon, to optimize daylight conditions.
After stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The nickname chosen for EarthCARE is “Hakuryu” or “White Dragon” in Japanese, because of the satellite’s white body and solar panel which resembles a long tail. It also coincides with the Japanese Year of the Dragon.
If the launch gets scrubbed, Space X says a backup launch opportunity is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29 at the same time.