NASA Rocket Launch Visible From PA On Friday, If Weather Cooperates

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania residents may be able to see a rocket lifting off from a NASA facility in Virginia on Friday night, if it goes forward as planned and if the forecasted winter storm front clears for a time.

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 to "no earlier than Friday Dec. 18." The launch window is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST., said Wallops.

The winter storm front set to hammer much of the region is expected to be at its peak later Thursday into Friday, according to the National Weather Service. But the storm's exact arrival time and intensity are dependent on its track, which could still change, forecasters said.

If weather does cooperate, some Keystone State residents might see the Electron rising for up to two and a half minutes. Southeastern Pennsylvania will see it for about 90 seconds, while a swath of the rest of the southern and eastern part of the state could see it for up to two minutes. The longest viewing times are likely in the west and far northern parts of the state.

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

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.

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.