Following its launch on Sunday morning, the first stage will attempt to land on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) Of Course I Still Love You, stationed approximately 647 km downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

An ION Satellite Carrier orbital transfer vehicle (SCV009 Eclectic Elena), developed and operated by the Italian company D-Orbit, will serve as a rideshare payload on Sunday’s flight.

This means that Falcon 9 will head on a southeastern trajectory out of Florida — a common practice in the winter months as rougher seas to the north tend to complicate recovery efforts.

The first stage’s nine Merlin 1D engines begin their ignition sequence at the T-3 second mark in the countdown, allowing them to achieve maximum thrust and pass final checks before committing to launch.

Much akin to the Falcon 9 first stage, the fairing halves can be recovered and reused, using a system of thrusters and parachutes to make a controlled descent into the ocean where they will be picked up by a recovery vessel.

These flights form part of a fast start to the year for SpaceX, which, according to CEO Elon Musk, is aiming for the ambitious goal of achieving up to 100 orbital launches in 2023.