Save CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (KVOA) — SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the European Space Agency's Hera mission on Monday, October 7. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:52 a.m. from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This mission marks the 94th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket in 2024 and will see the first-stage booster intentionally expended after its 23rd flight. The Hera mission follows NASA's successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which impacted the asteroid Dimorphous in 2022. DART reduced Dimorphous's orbital period around its binary asteroid, Didymos, by approximately 32 minutes. Both Hera and DART represent significant steps in planetary defense efforts by their respective space agencies. Facebook