Second Stage Fueling Underway

Fueling is underway for the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft.

The two-stage rocket is 229 feet tall and produces more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust at launch. Once separated from the booster rocket, the second stage will be powered by a single Merlin Vacuum engine.

Atop the second stage is the payload fairing, a 17-foot-wide carbon composite shell protecting IMAP and its two rideshares during launch. Approximately three minutes into flight, the fairing separates from the rocket and returns to Earth, having completed its role of shielding the spacecraft during ascent. SpaceX plans to use a ship to recover the fairing.

Coming up in about five minutes, engine chill on the Falcon 9 begins, followed by final prelaunch checks by the flight computer, pressurization of the propellant tank, and the highly anticipated go/no-go poll from NASA and SpaceX for launch.