SpaceX targeting Thursday night Starlink mission as Florida's 33rd launch of the year

After pulling off a weekend rocket launch doubleheader, SpaceX is targeting Thursday night for its next Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, navigational warnings show.

Per the Federal Aviation Administration and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, SpaceX's Starlink 6-55 mission window will open at 9:17 p.m. EDT Thursday and extend to 1:48 a.m. Friday.

The Falcon 9 will fly on a southeasterly trajectory and send a batch of Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 40. No Central Florida sonic booms are expected.

The National Weather Service forecast for Thursday night calls for mostly clear skies, a low around 69 and southeast wind of 5 to 10 mph at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Looking ahead to Monday, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to make its maiden flight test voyage with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard at 10:34 p.m. Monday. Their United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station en route to the International Space Station.

Thursday's Starlink 6-55 mission stands to become the 33rd orbital launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center through the first four months of 2024.

If that pace holds, the Cape could see 99 launches this year — blowing out the annual record of 72 set last year.

SpaceX rockets account for 30 of the 32 launches thus far this year. ULA launched the other two rockets: the first Vulcan on its Jan. 8 certification mission and the last Delta IV Heavy rocket April 9 on the NROL-70 mission.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 3.05.2024

STARLINK MISSION

On Thursday, May 2 at 10:37 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This was the 19th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, and now 10 Starlink missions.