SpaceX rocket launch webcast kicks off Update 9 a.m.: SpaceX's launch webcast is now posted above, right below our countdown clock. Liftoff is scheduled in 13 minutes from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX rocket booster to land on drone ship Update 8:50 a.m.: This morning's mission will mark the Falcon 9 first-stage booster’s maiden flight, SpaceX reported. Following stage separation, crews expect the booster to land on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean 8 minutes, 13 seconds after liftoff. SpaceX rocket fueling is now underway Update 8:41 a.m.: Falcon 9 fueling procedures are now underway at Launch Complex 40, billowing water vapor indicates. That means the Project Kuiper mission countdown is locked in to lift off at 9:13 a.m. without any delays, or else today's launch must be postponed to a later date. Amazon video explains Project Kuiper constellation Update 8:30 a.m.: This Project Kuiper promotional video explains how the future satellite constellation will come together. SpaceX now targeting 9:13 a.m. liftoff Update 8:22 a.m.: SpaceX has pushed back the target liftoff time by 16 minutes, to 9:13 a.m. Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell remembered on Space Coast Update 8:15 a.m.: Tributes continue coming in for Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell, who died Thursday. He commanded the Apollo 13 moon mission in April 1970. "Astronaut Jim Lovell has died at age 97. He was a pioneer," former NASA administrator Bill Nelson, who grew up in Brevard County, said in a tweet. "Gemini, Apollo 8 the first flight to the Moon, then a miracle of safe return of Apollo 13 after an explosion in flight. Jim was one of the best and a gentleman and devoted husband. Godspeed Jim." SpaceX launch to be 67th of year from Space Coast Update 8:05 a.m.: SpaceX's upcoming Falcon 9 launch will clock in as the 67th orbital rocket launch thus far during 2025 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. For comparison's sake, the Cape's all-time annual launch records clocked in at 57 liftoffs in 2022 and 72 liftoffs in 2023. The current record of 93 launches in a single year was established in 2024.