NASA Rocket Launch Visible From NJ On Sunday, If Weather Cooperates

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey residents may be able to see a rocket lifting off from a NASA facility in Virginia on Sunday night, if it goes forward as planned.

The Electron made by Rocket Lab USA was originally scheduled to launch from Wallops Flight Facility on Dec. 9.

But, weather concerns and airspace availability caused the facility in eastern Virginia to postpone it several times, and the launch is now scheduled for "no earlier than" Sunday, Dec. 18. The launch window for previous launches has been from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

Wallops has been posting updates on social media, and said the flight facility is working with the Federal Aviation Administration "on final safety documentation for launch."

A live webcast will stream at www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream about 40 minutes before launch. You can click here to learn more about the project from NASA.

On launch day, you may be able to see the rocket from your backyard — NASA says much of the east coast will see the 59-foot-tall rocket as it lifts off from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island.

Some Garden State residents might see the Electron rising for up to two minutes, NASA said.

"From a distance, Electron will appear like a bright, fast-moving star climbing upward through the night sky," the Wallops Flight Facility said.

Southern New Jersey neighbors could see the rocket for up to 90 seconds, NASA said. Those in North and Central Jersey might see it for 90-120 seconds after takeoff — if skies are clear enough in both locations.

NASA said the Electron will deploy radio frequency monitoring satellites for HawkEye 360.

"With this mission, NASA is helping foster a growing low-Earth space economy and continues Wallops' 35-year history of support to the commercial launch industry," NASA said.

This is the first Rocket Lab USA Electron launch from Wallops, NASA said, and they've nicknamed this project “Virginia is for Launch Lovers." It's also the first-ever use of the jointly-developed Pegasus automated flight system derived from NASA's Autonomous Flight Termination unit, said Wallops Flight Facility.

"The FAA has approved both NAFTU and Pegasus to support this flight, and the Wallops Range safety team has verified Rocket Lab has met all NASA launch range safety criteria to move forward with launch operations," the facility said.