15.02.2025
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UPCOMING LAUNCH
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 18 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 6:00 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 10:00 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Wednesday, February 19, starting at 6:00 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about ten minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, Astra 1P, NG-21, and 9 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of The Bahamas.
There is the possibility that residents of and visitors to The Bahamas may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what may be experienced will depend on weather and other conditions.
Quelle: SpaceX
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Update: 19.02.2025
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Update Feb. 18, 6:52 p.m. EST (2352 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster in The Bahamas for the first time.
SpaceX notched another spaceflight record as it completed the first orbital flight that featured a liftoff in one country and one in another. A little more than eight minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the Falcon 9 rocket booster landed on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions’ (JRTI) positioned off the coast of the island named Exuma in The Bahamas.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 10-12 mission happened at 6:21 p.m. EST (2321 UTC) on Tuesday, Feb. 18. This was SpaceX’s 21st orbital launch attempt of the year.
Coming into the launch opportunity, the 45th Weather Squadron, based at Patrick Space Force Base, forecast ideal conditions at liftoff for the primary window with a 95 percent chance for favorable weather. If SpaceX needs to push to its backup window on Wednesday though, conditions deteriorate to a 50 percent chance for good conditions.
“Cool and dry conditions have overspread most of Florida today in the wake of yesterday’s cold front, which is currently sliding into far South Florida. Similar weather will continue into the first part of Tuesday, with winds veering out of the east-northeast,” launch weather officers wrote.
“The deeper moisture associated with this front will work its way back to the north late in the day as the old front starts to creep northwards. This doesn’t look to occur quickly enough to bring a significant threat for Atlantic showers on Tuesday evening for the primary launch window.”
SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1080, to launch the Starlink 10-12 mission on its 16th flight. It previously launched four Dragon flights to the International Space Station, the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory, Astra 1P and nine Starlink missions.
The booster touchdown on JRTI marked the 110th landing on that droneship and the 410th booster landing to date.
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On Tuesday, February 18 at 6:21 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 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, Astra 1P, NG-21, and now 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, completing our first landing off the coast of The Bahamas.
Quelle: SpaceX