First up on the schedule is SpaceX, which plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo: APThe stars are aligning for Tuesday to be quite the bookend to a transformational year for commercial space exploration. Four different companies have rocket launches slated for 18 December: Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, France’s Arianespace and United Launch Alliance, the joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. First up on the schedule is SpaceX, which plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket at around 9:11 am local time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload is a satellite for the US Air Force, and Vice President Mike Pence has said he’ll attend.

Source: Mint December 18, 2018 04:18 UTC