SpaceX rocket preparing for early Thursday satellite launch

Update, 9 p.m. Sunday:

SpaceX tonight confirmed it completed a countdown dress rehearsal culminating in a test-firing of nine Falcon 9 main engines on the pad at Launch Complex 40, setting the stage for a 1:21 a.m. Thursday launch of JCSAT-14.

Earlier:

SpaceX this week is preparing for a late-night launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Japanese communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

As of late Saturday, liftoff with the JCSAT-14 satellite owned by SKY Perfect JSAT, Asia’s largest satellite operator, was planned around 1 a.m. Thursday, at the opening of a two-hour window at Launch Complex 40.

The mission aims to send the spacecraft built by Space Systems Loral to an orbit 22,300 miles above the equator, where it will deliver TV programming, broadband connections and mobile phone service in Japan, Asia, Oceania, Russia and the Pacific region for at least 15 years.

The mission is the first of two that SKY Perfect JSAT has booked on SpaceX's Falcon 9, to be followed by JCSAT-16.

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The launch comes nearly a month after a SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 rocket's first stage on a ship down range in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, during the company's April 8 launch of International Space Station supplies.

SpaceX again will try for a landing at sea, but this one is considered more challenging. The Falcon 9 booster will travel at higher speed to help push its payload to a high orbit.

The experimental landings are attempting to show that rockets can be recovered and reused, making launches more affordable.

Thaicom 8 delivered

A communications satellite that SpaceX is expected to launch in late May was delivered from Virginia to Cape Canaveral last week, satellite-builder Orbital ATK said Friday.

The launch of Thaicom 8 will be SpaceX's second for Thaicom Plc. The first, of Thaicom 6 in January 2014, was one of SpaceX's first launches of a commercial satellite on its way to a geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles up. Orbital ATK also built Thaicom 6.

“As one of Asia’s leading satellite operators, we are grateful for Thaicom’s continued confidence and look forward to more successful partnerships in the future,” said Amer Khouri, vice president of commercial satellite business at Orbital ATK, in a press release.

No launch date has been set yet.

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Orbiter lands at KSC runway

Nearly five years after NASA's shuttle program declared "wheels stop" on the final mission, a space shuttle orbiter appeared to grace Kennedy Space Center's runway again last week.

Named Inspiration, the orbiter is a full-size mockup familiar to many on the Space Coast: It was displayed for more than 20 years outside the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on State Road 405 in Titusville.

LVX System, a developer of LED lighting technology that was given the mockup by the KSC Visitor Complex, plans to spend at least a year and roughly $5 million refurbishing the Inspiration at the former Shuttle Landing Facility, near the runway's control tower.

The Inspiration left its post outside the Hall of Fame in January, when LVX System contracted Beyel Brothers to barge the mockup down the Indian River Lagoon to a Merritt Island facility.

ULA assembling Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral

CEO John Pederson said a lease subsequently worked out with Space Florida allowed the refurbishment to be done at KSC. The barge departed Merritt Island and spent days stalled at the Roy Bridges Bridge due to weather before arriving at KSC's turn basin last Tuesday.

From there, a Kamag transporter moved the Inspiration to the runway's midfield.

"It was kind of fun to see a space shuttle on (the runway) again," said Pederson, of Merritt Island. "That was cool."

Pederson says plans are still under review for how to upgrade the Inspiration for a new education mission, possibly one that would travel to various stops around the country by barge.

Orion under pressure

The pressure vessel forming the core of the Orion crew capsule slated to blast off on from Kennedy Space Center in late 2018 on an unmanned test flight is undergoing pressure tests to ensure its structural integrity.

KSC teams recently moved the pressure vessel to a stand and then a proof pressure cell for the tests inside the Armstrong Operations and Checkout building.

Lifting off for the first launch on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Exploration Mission 1 plans to send the Orion beyond the moon and back over several weeks, shaking out systems before astronauts strap into the capsule, possibly on the next flight planned by 2023.

Also recently, the underlying structure for the mission's service module, which is being provided by European Space Agency, was shipped from Italy to a German facility for integration. The service module, which will provide power and propulsion for the mission, is expected to move to KSC early next year.

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Debus to DiBello

The National Space Club Florida Committee on Saturday bestowed its top annual honor, the Debus Award, to Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello.

DiBello is being honored for his role in helping the Space Coast rebound from the 2011 retirement of NASA's space shuttle program and its transition to more commercial space operations. During his tenure, companies such as Boeing, Blue Origin, OneWeb Satellites, Embraer and Northrop Grumman have announced plans to establish or expand operations in the area.

"Frank is being recognized for his outstanding personal and professional efforts in supporting the U.S. space program throughout his career, with a particular emphasis on his role in maintaining Florida’s leadership in the aerospace community,” committee chairman Mark Jager of Boeing wrote in the event's program.

Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, was master of ceremonies at the Debus dinner festivities at the the KSC Visitor Complex's Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit.

Astronaut Day

Celebrate the first National Astronaut Day on Thursday, the 55th anniversary of Alan Shepard becoming the first American in space.

The event was created by uniphi space agency, a management agency for former astronauts including Brian Duffy, Susan Helms and Frank Culbertson, whose mission is "to inspire us all to follow our dreams."

Visit www.NationalAstronautDay.com on Thursday to download astronaut cards, and join a social media campaign using the hashtag "#WeBelieveInAstronauts." Fisher Space Pen Co. will release a new Astronaut Signature Pen series in collaboration with the event, with a portion of sales benefiting charities selected by astronauts.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.