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When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Thursday at Cape Canaveral, it will ship SpaceIL and the IAI's lunar lander.
SpaceIL / IAI

After a two-month hiatus, the Space Coast is expected to see smoke and fire again on Thursday night when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes at the base at the Cape Canaveral Air Force checkpoint.

At 20:45, the rocket topped by the Indonesian communications spacecraft Nusantara Satu will take off from Launch Complex 40, taking Falcon 9's first mission to another celestial body. The teams have until 9:17 pm to throw.

The secondary payload is a SpaceIL lunar lander and Israel Aerospace Industries named Beresheet, or "early" in Hebrew. It will take about two months to reach the lunar orbit before attempting the landing. There, an instrument will measure the magnetic field of the moon and transmit images to the Earth.

More: 10 good places to watch a SpaceX launch

The first stage of the rocket will attempt a landing on the Of course I still love you drone ship, while SpaceX Mr. Steven It is expected that the ship will catch at least one of the fairing halves of the rocket.

Our coverage consists of three parts:

  • Live video of the launch, available here or on our Facebook page.
  • A live chat with space reporters James Dean and Emre Kelly.
  • Real-time augmented reality launch coverage available in our 321 LAUNCH app (downloadable for iOS here and Android here).

The cover starts at 19:45. Thursday at floridatoday.com/space and feature in-depth coverage, photos, graphics and more. You can ask questions to the team and start a conversation. We will host the live video of SpaceX.

In the center of Florida?

If the sky is clear, you can look on the east coast of the state to spot the launch of the Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral.

If you go out for the launch, bring your smartphone and stay tuned for live updates. The cover is available on floridatoday.com/space in your mobile browser or in the 321 LAUNCH app.

Contact Emre Kelly at [email protected] or 321-242-3715. Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on @EmreKelly.

Did you try 321 LAUNCH?

Thanks to the advanced technology of augmented reality or the superposition of real-world digital objects made possible by mobile cameras, spaceflight is now in your pocket. Explore launchers, rockets and live launches in detail right on your smartphone.

Find the free 321 LAUNCH app in the Apple App Store or in Google Play for Android devices.

Download for Apple devices here.

Download for Android devices here.

List of system requirements:

Apple: iPhone 6S or newer; Fifth generation iPad (2017) or newer. All require iOS 11 and later.

The AR capabilities of Android are limited to specific models running Nougat 7.0 and later versions. See the full list at developers.google.com/ar/discover/.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral Air Base early Sunday morning, December 23, 2018.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

Buy a photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

Buy a photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

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People stand on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier to watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the United States Air Force launched from Launch Complex 40 at the base Cape Canaveral 8:51 Sunday Morning.

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Canada's Sonja Larrivee observes the launch from the beach north of the Cocoa Beach jetty of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the United States Air Force launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Base. Cape Canaveral 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Kayla Thomas (center) of Cocoa stands alongside her cousins, Caleb Daigle and Hannah Leonetti of Conneticut, north of Cocoa Beach Pier, to witness the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System satellite III for the US Air Force Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Kristin Juneberg and her 9-year-old daughter Meja, on vacation in Sweden, stand on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier to witness the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for 39th US Air Force Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Tarja Sjoberg from Sweden, on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier, is monitoring the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the US Air Force, Launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base 8.: 51 Sunday morning.

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