SpaceX sets

a Monday launch window for its next-generation Falcon 9 rocket, Block 5, a report says.

SpaceX has set a window of 2 hours and 25 minutes Monday afternoon for the first launch of the next-generation Falcon 9 rocket, the Block 5 — according to a report from Spaceflight Now.

The Block 5 is designed for more reusability, a key factor in lowering the cost of a launch. The first Block 5 launch is set to carry a communications satellite, Bangabandhu 1, into orbit for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

The launch window is set for 4 p.m. through 6:25 p.m. Monday at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, but it has been delayed several times before. SpaceX is expected to make a static fire test of the rocket before the launch, but that had not been reported as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Bangabandhu 1 satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space and will make direct-to-home television programming available throughout Bangladesh and some neighboring countries.

The Block 5 is an upgrade intended to allow each rocket to be reused up to 10 times with little refurbishment, according to Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX. She gave an interview about the Block 5 and other things on The Space Show hosted by David Livingston.

She also said the current Falcon 9 can only be reused two or three times. SpaceX has moved the Block 5 to Florida after testing in Texas.

In the meantime, there will be a fascinating launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, currently set for Saturday, of NASA’s Insight Mars lander, which will listen for “marsquakes” in an attempt to learn about the core and crust of Mars.