Update: SpaceX [1] has delayed the launch to address a last-minute issue with the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems:
Standing down today to conduct additional GNC analysis, and teams are now working towards a targeted launch of @NASA_TESS[2] on Wednesday, April 18.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 16, 2018[3]
SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket today during a 30-second window at 6:32pm EDT. On board is NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)[4], designed to find exoplanets. SpaceX said this morning[5] there’s an 80 percent chance of launching today. Following the launch, SpaceX will attempt to recover the Falcon 9 rocket and nose cone by landing the rocket on a drone ship and using parachutes to slow down fairings before they hit the Atlantic. SpaceX’s high-speed net boat Mr. Stevens is still in the Pacific.
The live stream is set to begin at 6:00pm EDT.
The satellite on board uses four cameras to hunt for exoplanets around stars. They measure tiny dips in a star’s brightness that could indicate a planetary body passing in front of the camera’s line of sight. This is called a transit. Mission officials have said that this satellite will likely find thousands of worlds during its two-year mission.
The Falcon 9 used in today’s mission has never been launched before, though, if it lands successfully, it reportedly will be used in a future mission. This rocket is also the final block 4 version before SpaceX starts using block 5 versions with upgraded engines and improvements to increase the reusability of the rocket....