A sonic boom advisory is in place for the Space Coast on Saturday as SpaceX prepares to launch Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL spacecraft to the International Space Station. The launch is scheduled for 7:41 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with a backup window on Sunday at 7:15 a.m. The mission will carry supplies and scientific experiments to the orbiting laboratory, marking the first commercial resupply flight of 2026. Residents in Brevard, Orange, Osceola, and several other counties may hear sonic booms during the landing phase of the mission.
The Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A, with the first stage expected to land on SpaceX's Landing Zone 40 approximately eight minutes after liftoff. The landing zone is located near the SpaceX headquarters in Boca Chica, Texas, but the sonic booms from the descent could be audible across much of central Florida. Local officials have urged residents to stay indoors during the launch window if possible, though the booms are not expected to cause damage.
This will be the second Cygnus mission for Northrop Grumman in 2026, following a successful launch in January. The spacecraft is set to dock with the International Space Station around 10 days after liftoff. SpaceX has not yet confirmed if any additional launches are planned for the week, but the company has been increasing its flight rate in recent months to meet growing demand for satellite deployments and cargo missions.
The advisory covers nine counties, including Brevard, where the Kennedy Space Center is located. Officials with the Florida Space Institute said they received no reports of unusual activity from the area ahead of the launch. The next potential launch window for the mission is Sunday at 7:15 a.m., though weather conditions could influence the timeline.
SpaceX has not released details about the payload for this mission, but previous Cygnus flights have included experiments related to microgravity research and space agriculture. The company is also working on its Starship program, which aims to enable crewed missions to the Moon and Mars in the coming years.