SpaceX's Friday scrub could mean 2 Saturday morning Space Coast launches
Published in Science & Technology News
SpaceX scrubbed a Friday attempt to send up the first of two planned Starlink launches from the Space Coast this weekend. That could mean two rockets flying from two pads on Saturday morning.
A Falcon 9 carrying 21 of the company’s internet satellites was set to fly Friday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Its next opportunity to fly is during a four-hour window Saturday morning from 7:50-11:50 a.m.
SpaceX said it scrubbed the attempt because of booster recovery weather conditions downrange in the Atlantic.
It also has a second Starlink launch slated for Saturday morning from neighboring Kennedy Space Center approved by the Space Force, but the details of which have yet to be announced by SpaceX as well. That Starlink mission is set to lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A during a four-hour window that runs from 7:21-11:21 a.m. with a backup on Sunday from 6:59-10:59 a.m.
Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron has forecast a 90% chance for good conditions at the opening of Saturday’s windows that diminish to 80% by the end of the windows. Sunday’s weather forecast calls for a 90% chance for good conditions.
This first-stage booster for the Cape Canaveral flight is making its 21st trip to space having previously launched the Crew-3 and Crew-4 human spaceflight missions among others. It will attempt another recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. It’s one of three boosters in SpaceX’s fleet with at least 20 launches in the books. Another booster based at Cape Canaveral is the fleet leader having already flown 22 times.
The launches will be the 56th and 57th among all providers on the Space Coast for 2024, with SpaceX responsible for all but four.
They also would be the 51st and 52nd Falcon 9 launches with SpaceX having also sent up one Falcon Heavy mission so far this year.
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