4.04.2024

SpaceX targeting early morning Friday for Falcon 9 rocket launch on Starlink mission

After Saturday's rare SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch doubleheader, the company is targeting its next Starlink launch from the Space Coast during a predawn launch window Friday, navigational warnings show.

Though SpaceX has yet to announce this mission's existence, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Federal Aviation Administration advisories indicate a 4½-hour Starlink 6-47 mission launch window will open from 2:14 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. EDT.

This mission is slated as the Space Coast's 23rd orbital launch thus far this year, maintaining a speedy pace that would shatter the annual record of 72 launches set during 2023.

More details on Friday's early morning launch window:

• Mission: A Falcon 9 will launch a payload of Starlink broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Location: Launch Complex 40.
• Trajectory: Southeast.
• Local sonic boom: No.
• Booster landing: Drone ship out on the Atlantic Ocean.

The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron forecasts 90% "go for launch" weather conditions, with a slight risk of a scrub triggered by strong liftoff winds or thick cloud layers.

On Saturday, SpaceX crews launched two back-to-back Falcon 9s within three hours and 38 minutes, sending the Eutelsat 36D telecommunications satellite and the Starlink 6-45 mission rocketing into low-Earth orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Looking ahead on the Space Coast launch schedule, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency advisory shows a rocket launch window will open from 7:12 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. Sunday.

SpaceX has yet to make a public announcement, but this is likely the company's Bandwagon-1 rideshare mission serving an array of small satellite operators. One — Capella Space Corp., which will launch its Acadia-4 satellite — announced that Bandwagon-1 is scheduled to lift off Sunday from pad 39A at KSC.

Then on Tuesday, United Launch Alliance will make its second attempt to launch the last Delta IV Heavy rocket on the NROL-70 national security mission. Target time: 12:53 p.m.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 6.04.2024

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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 in predawn darkness Friday on Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral 

Two hours before sunrise, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminated the predawn darkness during a Friday morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The early-bird Starlink 6-47 mission lifted off at 5:12 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 40, shipping another payload of 23 Starlink broadband satellites into the company's ever-expanding constellation in low-Earth orbit

In a tweet last week, SpaceX officials announced Argentina is now the 72nd country worldwide — and seventh in South America — that can access Starlink high-speed internet service.

Following Friday's rocket stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster landed atop SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean, wrapping up its 14th mission. The booster previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 and nine Starlink missions, SpaceX reported.

SpaceX had a second Friday launch scheduled in California: A Falcon 9 was scheduled to send up 21 Starlink satellites — including six with direct-to-cell capabilities — at 10:31 p.m. EDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

During Friday's early morning Florida countdown, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk retweeted a highlight video featuring the March 14 Starship test flight from Boca Chica, Texas, with a message: "Flight 4 next month."

In Brevard County, Air Force officials are preparing an environmental impact statement examining SpaceX's proposal to convert Launch Complex 37 into a Starship-Super Heavy launch facility by 2026 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Public open houses were conducted last month in Cocoa, Titusville and Cape Canaveral to collect public comments about the massive rocket system.

Quelle: Florida Today