Boeing's historic Starliner launch may be visible from the U.S. East Coast Friday

If you live along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, you've got a decent shot at seeing a historic rocket launch early tomorrow morning (Dec. 20), weather permitting.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing's first Starliner crew capsule is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 6:36 a.m. EST (1136 GMT). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.

The Atlas V will head northeast from Cape Canaveral, potentially providing glimpses of the rocket to coastal folks all the way up through New England, according to a visibility map tweeted out by ULA. 

Graphic showing the visibility map for the launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Dec. 20, 2019. (Image credit: ULA)

And 6:36 a.m. EST is a very nice time to view a launch at this time of year, said Will Ulrich, Launch Weather Officer with the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral.

"That's about 30 minutes before sunrise, which should make for a very picturesque launch if I can provide you guys with some clear skies," Ulrich said during a prelaunch news conference on Tuesday (Dec. 17). "With it still being dark at the surface, the sun will still be coming up aloft. So, we expect some very picturesque images to come out of Friday's launch."

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