“SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 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 4:35 p.m. ET with opportunities available until 8:19 p.m. ET.”
Originally the SpaceX launch of 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites that were to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast was set for June 12. That was scrubbed and rolled over to June 13, and now, due to inclimate Florida weather again, Thursday is scrubbed and is tentatively planned for Friday, June 14, Flag Day.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 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.
The 45th Weather Squadron is forecasting a 95% chance of creating a Range Violation Thursday, meaning a mere 5% chance of acceptable conditions throughout the launch window. On Thursday, conditions improve slightly: 15% “Go”, with an 85%” Probability of Violation.
In their discussion, the 45th Weather Squadron states, “Daytime heating and the presence of the boundary will once again kick off numerous showers and storms by mid Friday afternoon with the exact location of activity dependent on how much north-northeasterly flow we see behind the boundary. Models continue to show the tendency for any activity to be inland of the Spaceport, especially heading further into the launch window. Anvil level flow will still be out of the west-northwest, though less robust than this evening, meaning that even with activity to the southwest anvil may still reach the Spaceport and these will remain the primary concern.”
Anvils are of course thunderclouds — they may or may not produce rain and/or thunder and lightning, but they do have enormous potential energy — and rockets are well known to create lightning strikes. That in mind, the 45th and launch providers won’t launch if one is within a given distance of the launch pad. The risk of a lightning bolt creating a bad day is too high.
SpaceX’s bad hat trick of three scrubs in a row as Thursday’s launch was called due to weather again
Originally the SpaceX launch of 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites that were to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast was set for June 12. That was scrubbed and rolled over to June 13, and now, due to inclimate Florida weather again, Thursday is scrubbed and is tentatively planned for Friday, June 14, Flag Day.
“SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 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 4:35 p.m. ET with opportunities available until 8:19 p.m. ET.”
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 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.
SpaceX scrubbed Wednesday’s launch and will attempt on Thursday batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after a scrub on Wednesday. The delay is due to weather conditions that remained ‘poor’. Tropical downpours deluged Florida and a possibility of 4-6 inches in some Central Florida areas.
This next liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket is now scheduled for 4:46 p.m. at Space Launch Complex 40.
The forecast noted that the storms will be keeping things wet and unsettled through the remainder of the week with perhaps another scrub on Thursday.
The first-stage booster being used in the mission will make its 16th flight, having previously gone up with Bandwagon-1, CRS-27, Amazonas-6 and 10 Starlink launches among others, SpaceX said.
SpaceX Starlink to launch smallsats Wednesday
Wednesday, June 12, 2:08 PM – 6:36 PM PDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX will launch a batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
Space Launch Complex 40 has launched 247 rockets, including 247 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been the site for 959 rocket launches.
SpaceX will add Starlink v2 Mini satellites to the Starlink constellation with the second batch of Group 10 satellites to orbit.
The booster will land on one of SpaceX’s two autonomous droneships approximately 600 km downrange. Neither the booster nor the support vessels are known at this time.
