Night owls and light sleepers across Florida's Space Coast may want a heads-up: SpaceX is set to launch the classified NROL-95 mission from Cape Canaveral early Thursday, and the event comes with an acoustic bonus — a sonic boom.
The loud crack will accompany the return landing of the rocket's booster, a now-familiar but still startling part of SpaceX's reusable rocket routine. Overnight launches tend to amplify the surprise factor, since the boom rolls across quiet neighborhoods with little ambient noise to soften it.
NROL-95 is a classified payload, so details about the mission's purpose and orbit remain under wraps. What is confirmed is the Cape Canaveral launch site and the overnight timing.
If you're near the coast, it's worth stepping outside — a nighttime rocket launch is one of those only-in-Florida moments that never really gets old. Just don't be alarmed when the booster comes home.
Details on this launch were first reported by Florida Today.
