Watch Blue Origin's spaceflight carry a NASA payload for lunar landers

Just weeks after Blue Origin's first manned flight, with founder Jeff Bezos onboard, the space company is preparing to launch its New Shepard spacecraft again. Liftoff is scheduled to take place at at 9:35 AM EDT (6:35 AM PDT) from the company’s launch site in West Texas. The flight's NS-17 mission title is a reference to its status as New Shepard's 17th launch. You can watch the proceedings live on the stream below. This time, there won't be any humans aboard, however. Instead, the reusable rocket and capsule will carry a payload of NASA tech including a LiDAR sensor and computer designed for lunar landers.

The launch comes amid a brewing lawsuit filed by Blue Origin over the space agency's handling of the Human Landing System program. For this launch, it's capsule will also house experiments from academic institutions including the University of Florida.