SpaceX to launch rocket from Cape Canaveral Tuesday morning

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla — SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Tuesday, but this launch will be like no other.

It's SpaceX's 5th re-supply mission to the International Space Station. But for the first time, the launch will involve landing part of the rocket intact on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX isn't being too optimistic, but space industry advocate Dale Ketcham said the company is making progress.

"It would be great. It lowers cost which means it would be cheaper to put your payloads into orbit, which means more people would want to do it, which means more launches, which is a good thing here on the Space Coast," said Ketcham.

Tuesday's launch is one of about two dozen planned by SpaceX during 2015.

"We're continuing to dig out of the hole that the shuttle retirement left us in and I think it's going to be an exciting year on a variety of fronts," said Ketcham.

That includes NASA's plan to ferry American astronauts to and from the ISS under its commercial crew transportation capability contract. The U.S. government denied a protest filed by Sierra Nevada challenging the award of contracts to Boeing and SpaceX.

"This allows Boing and SpaceX to move out aggressively, as soon as possible," said Ketcham.

Tuesday's Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for 6:20 a.m. WFTV.com will livestream the launch.

WFTV