After a quiet month for Florida rocket launches, a significant crewed SpaceX rocket launch with a sonic boom is expected to lift off from Florida this morning, and it could be visible from Jacksonville.
At 11:10 a.m. ET today, Thursday, Oct. 1, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a crewed mission, with two NASA astronauts, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut and a Roscosmos cosmonaut, to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. And the launch had a northeast trajectory, so it could have been visible in parts of Northeast Florida.
Though rockets here launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people can sometimes see this phenomenon far beyond the launch pad.
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Below is more information on today's crewed rocket launch from Florida, suggestions on where to watch launches from Jacksonville, how to watch some launches with NASA+ on Prime Video and the Florida Today livestream of the launch.
For questions or comments, email USA TODAY Network Space Reporters Rick Neale at rneale@floridatoday.com, Brooke Edwards at bedwards@floridatoday.com or Eric Lagatta at elagatta@usatoday.com. For more space news from the USA TODAY Network, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Thursday, Oct. 1, NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 launch
- Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
- Launch: 11:10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 1.
- Trajectory: Northeast.
- Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Sonic booms: Yes.
- Live coverage starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space: You can watch live rocket launch coverage from USA TODAY Network’s Space Team, which consists of FLORIDA TODAY space reporters Rick Neale and Brooke Edwards and visuals journalists Craig Bailey, Malcolm Denemark and Tim Shortt. Our Space Team will provide up-to-the-minute updates in a mobile-friendly live blog, complete with a countdown clock, at floridatoday.com/space, starting 90 minutes before liftoff. You can download the free FLORIDA TODAY app, which is available in the App Store or Google Play, or type floridatoday.com/space into your browser.
Live: Watch NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 lift off from Florida
Where can I watch a rocket launch in Florida?
A rocket launch with a northeast trajectory can be visible as far north as Jacksonville Beach, Florida, which is about 160 miles north of Cape Canaveral (about a two-hour and 30-minute car ride, depending on which route you take).
Rocket launches with a southeast trajectory can be seen as far south as West Palm Beach, Florida, which is about 150 miles south of Cape Canaveral (about a two-hour-and-20-minute car ride).
Rocket launches are most visible from the Space Coast, where they launch from, and are often visible from the Treasure Coast and Volusia County as well.
Where to see SpaceX rocket launch in Jacksonville, Florida. Can you see rocket launches from Duval County?
Depending on trajectory, weather and cloud cover, there have been sightings of a SpaceX Falcon 9 or United Launch Alliance rocket launch over the skies of Jacksonville, Florida, which is north of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Your best shot at spotting a rocket launch from Jacksonville is to get as close to the beach as possible or get away from trees to get a clear view of the sky and look due south. You have a greater chance at spotting a launch from the First Coast in the evening or in the morning, when the sky is dark or nearly dark.
Where to see a rocket launch in Jacksonville, Florida, area:
- Jacksonville Beach, Florida
- Neptune Beach, Florida
- Atlantic Beach and West Atlantic Beach, Florida
- Mayport, Florida
- Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which touches south Jacksonville Beach
- St. Augustine, Florida, which is less than an hour away
Watch some rocket launches with NASA+ on Prime Video
NASA content, including some rocket launches, is available to watch through NASA+ on desktop, both from its official site and YouTube. The platform is also available to download as a mobile app on smartphones.
All NASA+ content is also available to those who have Prime Video downloaded on any of their devices – whether it be a smartphone or smart TV.
Watch NASA+ content with Amazon Prime Video
The content, which does not require a Prime subscription to view, is one of Prime Video's FAST channels (free ad-supported television). Viewers can find it under Prime's Live TV section at the top of the screen when they open the app.
Lianna Norman and Jennifer Sangalang are journalists for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Watch live: SpaceX crewed launch lifting off from Florida
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