The rocket’s Falcon-9 engines were tested over the past weekend, and all responded well.
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SpaceX has for the first time successfully landed a Falcon 9 stage 1 on a drone ship in early April.
There is a greater than 90 percent chance of favorable weather during Friday’s launch window, according to the official U.S. Air Force forecast.
The satellite will be launched aboard the famed Falcon 9 and join satellite operator Sky Perfect JSAT’s existing fleet of satellites.
The launch of the Japanese satellite continues SpaceX’s work toward a so-far elusive goal: increasing its pace of rocket launches and landings.
Now, SpaceX is preparing for another launch.
Two successful landings so far – one on a pad at Cape Canaveral in December, the other on a “drone ship” last month – have shown SpaceX can recover and potentially reuse big rockets, which Musk considers essential to making spaceflight more affordable and ultimately enabling human missions to Mars.
SpaceX executives have not yet decided whether the first launch of the Heavy in November will actually haul any satellites into space, but there is already concerted interest from government and corporate partners.
The JCSAT 14 satellite is pictured before encapsulation inside the Falcon 9’s payload fairing.
The satellite will provide broadcast and telecommunication to areas of Asia and the Pacific.
It will extend and replace coverage now offered by the JCSAT 2A spacecraft launched in 2002 by a European Ariane 4 rocket.
SpaceX initially had the launch scheduled for Thursday at the same time, but they pushed it back a day due to concerns about the weather.
“It’s going to come in really hot”, Musk said of a Falcon 9 booster during such high-orbit missions.
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SpaceX has released the Youtube webcast for tomorrow’s JCSAT-14 mission.
