Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

How to watch the launch of NASA’s JPSS-2 weather satellite this week

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

This Thursday, November 10, NASA will launch a weather satellite called JPSS-2 into a polar Earth orbit. This environmental satellite will be accompanied by a test of a new inflatable heat shield, making this launch one well worth tuning in for.

Launch of JPSS-2 Weather Satellite & LOFTID Mars Tech Demo (Official NASA Broadcast)

We’ve got all the details on how you can watch the launch at home below.

Recommended Videos

What to expect from the JPSS-2 launch

Illustration of the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite.
Illustration of the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. NOAAE

The Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission is a cooperation between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to put a new satellite into a polar orbit around the Earth. From there, the satellite will join other NASA and NOAA satellites to monitor weather phenomena and atmospheric readings to help with weather forecasting and the prediction of extreme weather events like hurricanes.

The satellite will be launched using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 (SLC-3) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. In addition to the satellite, the rocket will also be carrying an experimental piece of NASA technology called LOFTID. LOFTID, or Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, is an inflatable heat shield designed to keep craft safe from the heat of friction as they enter an atmosphere. It could be used in future missions to other planets like Mars or Venus, as well as being used for returning craft to Earth.

The launch of JPSS-2 had originally been scheduled for this past week on November 1, but it had to be delayed due to an issue with a battery on the launch vehicle.

“Both JPSS-2 and LOFTID remain healthy and ready for launch,” NASA wrote in an update. “A faulty battery on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket delayed the launch. Technicians have activated a replacement and will exchange and retest the battery, clearing the way for the launch to proceed.”

How to watch the JPSS-2 launch

The launch will be livestreamed by NASA on its NASA TV channel. Coverage is set to begin early in the morning of November 10, beginning at 3:45 a.m. ET (12:45 a.m. PT). The launch itself is scheduled for 4:25 a.m. ET (1:25 a.m. PT). The coverage should also include the test of the LOFTID shield.

You can watch the livestream either by using the video embedded at the top of this page or by heading to NASA’s YouTube page for the launch.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Former Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Topics
SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for the first time but its historic flight ends early
Starship reaches orbit for the first time and deploys 26 Starlink satellites before an early splashdown.
spacex-starship

After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180

Read more
Starship is finally going orbital, and SpaceX has picked September 22
Flight 14 is aiming for orbit, Starlink V3 deployment and a very long day in space.
Starship rocket.

SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.

Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver

Read more
Want a city on the Moon? Scientists say there’s not enough water
A billion tons still comes up short
Artist impression of activities in a Moon Base.

For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.

A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.

Read more