Overview

• Liftoff is targeted for 11:50 p.m. EDT Thursday from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
• The first stage, booster B1092 on its sixth flight, will attempt a return-to-launch-site landing at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral.
• Forecasts call for a 65% chance of acceptable weather at the window’s opening improving to 80% later, as forecasters track Hurricane Erin offshore.
• Publicly disclosed payloads include a high‑bandwidth inter‑satellite laser communications demo and the highest‑performing quantum inertial sensor yet flown in space.
• Many details, including mission duration, remain classified; the two X‑37B vehicles have completed seven prior flights totaling more than 4,200 days in orbit.