Launch window opens at 9:00 AM PDT (noon Eastern). They'll be trying to hit the beginning of the window, but delays are possible.
A few significant events after launch:
T+01:18 -- max Q (highest aerodynamic pressure)
T+02:43 -- first stage engines stop
T+02:50 -- staging
T+02:57 -- stage two ignition
T+03:37 -- fairing around the payload jetissoned
T+08:54 -- stage two engine cutoff
T+14:15 -- payloads start to separate.
A lot of this is new hardware. This is the first flight for "Falcon 9 1.1", which features new engines, stretched tanks, and a complete rework of the structural truss that mates them together. It's also the first flight for the fairing, which has to hold together against high Mach-number winds and then cleanly fall off on command. (It doesn't sound like much, but there have been several launches that lost payloads due to fairing problems. What makes rocket science hard is that anything that goes wrong, no matter how minor, can cost you the mission.)
Is this the first test of their return procedure when they are going to re-light the first stage after separation and fly it over the ocean and "land" it in the water?
I was replying to a now deleted comment which suggested that SpaceX had attempted and failed at first stage recovery in the past. It seemed like an odd thing to say, as SpaceX has been fairly transparent about failures in the past (and as this is the first launch of Falcon9 v1.1, they couldn't have attempted powered descent with earlier flights anyway).
A few significant events after launch:
A lot of this is new hardware. This is the first flight for "Falcon 9 1.1", which features new engines, stretched tanks, and a complete rework of the structural truss that mates them together. It's also the first flight for the fairing, which has to hold together against high Mach-number winds and then cleanly fall off on command. (It doesn't sound like much, but there have been several launches that lost payloads due to fairing problems. What makes rocket science hard is that anything that goes wrong, no matter how minor, can cost you the mission.)