CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX is gearing up to launch its fourth Falcon Heavy rocket mission from Florida's space coast Thursday morning.
The rocket will launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:16 a.m. A backup opportunity is available for Friday, October 13, and 10:19 a.m.
The Falcon Heavy is part of the Psyche mission and will travel to a "metal-rich asteroid of the same name orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Mars in pursuit of studying the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet," according to SpaceX.
The mission will also demonstrate NASA's first deep space test of high-bandwidth optical communications through space and back to Earth.
This is the fourth Falcon Heavy launch of the year.
FOX 35 will livestream the launch.