Immediate:SpaceX to Launch Startup's Communication Satellite Into Space Tonight: Watch Live

[Judi Lynn]

SpaceX to Launch Startup's Communication Satellite Into Space Tonight: Watch Live
By Elizabeth Howell 2 hours ago

The launch window opens at 7:10 p.m. EST!

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida tonight (Dec. 16) and you can watch it live online.

The main payload on board the rocket is the JCSAT 18/Kacific 1 communications satellite. The satellite is shared between Singapore startup Kacific Broadband Satellites, which is marking its first launch, and Japanese operator Sky Perfect JSAT.

You can watch the launch here and on Space.com's homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly at SpaceX's webcast page here, beginning at about 6:55 p.m. EST (2355 GMT). The 1-hour-and-28-minute launch window opens at 7:10 p.m. EST (0010 GMT Tuesday, Dec. 17); SpaceX generally begins their webcasts about 20 minutes before blastoff. The SpaceX Twitter feed will share live updates about how the countdown is proceeding.

The satellite will operate in the Ka-band frequency spectrum and offer internet services to 25 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including rural areas, according to Kacific's website. The satellite was built by Boeing, with Kacific and JSAT sharing the cost of the platform. JSAT's half of the satellite includes its own JCSAT-18 communications payloads, according to SpaceNews.

More:
https://www.space.com/spacex-jcsat-kacific-satellite-launch-webcast.html