It’s launch day!
SpaceX crews at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida are on track to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday with another batch of the company’s Starlink internet satellites.
The 230-foot-tall rocket is scheduled to launch at 11:38 p.m. EDT, with a four-hour launch extending until 12:05 a.m. Sunday. This will be the 51st launch from the Space Coast this year.
The SpaceX broadcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) will be available at the top of this page when available 5 minutes before liftoff.
New release time:
8pm EST: SpaceX now aims to launch the Starlink 6-18 mission tonight at 11:38 PM EDT.
Just a quick reminder that the launch window has been extended until 12:05 PM EST tonight. hang on
-Jimmy Corvo
7:30 PM EST: Good evening and welcome to our space team for tonight’s live coverage of the SpaceX Starlink 6-18 mission launch attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. At last check, SpaceX is working on liftoff at 9:07 PM EST, and the weather around the spaceport is expected to be 95% favorable. Frequent updates will be provided as we progress through the pre-launch countdown. hang on
-Jimmy Corvo
The Starlink 6-18 mission’s first launch opportunity will be Saturday at 11:38 p.m. EDT, with more backup opportunities in the approximately four-hour launch window that extends until after midnight.
SpaceX has four backup opportunities on Sunday at 8:41 PM EST if teams need them.
What’s the weather forecast for the next SpaceX launch:
Weather conditions for the Starlink 6-18 mission are expected to be good, according to the Space Force’s Delta 45 space launch mission. Meteorologists from the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron on Friday predicted weather conditions around the space station would be 95% “transient” during Saturday’s launch window.
The only concern is the possibility of clouds from the coastal tropical system leaving the area over the weekend.
“On Saturday night, the system will pass over North Carolina, with mostly dry conditions and northeast winds in the spaceport,” meteorologists said in a report Friday.
Rescue conditions for the boosted landing attempt were listed as “low risk.”
- The Cape Canaveral Launch Complex will host Space Force 40.
- The payload is the company’s next batch of Starlink Internet streaming satellites.
- The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket will continue on the southeast route between Florida and the Bahamas.
- If it launches in time, this year will mark the 51st launch from the Space Coast.
- There are no local sound spikes in this task. The 130-foot first stage booster targets the landing drone eight minutes after takeoff.
- According to SpaceX, tonight will be the 17th flight of the first stage of the mission support booster.
Mission to the moon:NASA’s Artemis II astronauts visit the launch pad for the first time
OSIRIS REX:NASA’s first asteroid sample departed Sunday in the Utah desert via parachute landing
When will the next SpaceX launch be?
At nearby Kennedy Space Center, the SpaceX crew is preparing a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket for the first week of October. The mission’s payload is NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which will study a metal-rich asteroid located between Mars and Jupiter.
The interplanetary mission is scheduled to lift off from pad 39A early Thursday, October 5, at 10:38 a.m. EDT. For the latest information, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Follow Jimmy Groh by contacting him at [email protected] X.com at @AlteredJamie.
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