UPI reports that SpaceX “launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of 22 Starlink satellites into space early Friday from Florida’s famed Cape Canaveral, after having scrubbed the launch of a separate mission Thursday night.” The rocket “launched at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” Up to four backup launch opportunities “were available to SpaceX to launch the nearly two dozen satellites into low-Earth orbit where they will join Starlink’s constellation of orbitals that provide high-speed, low-latency Internet around the globe.” The launch occurred shortly “after SpaceX scrubbed a Flacon Heavy mission that was to liftoff late Thursday.” No reason for “aborting the mission was immediately made public.” The first-stage booster “used in the early Friday launch flew its 15th mission.” After deploying its payload “into space, the launch vehicle returned to Earth where it landed upon the autonomous A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.” The launch “was SpaceX’s 50th of the year and 249th overall.”
Full Story (UPI)
Tag: Florida
SpaceX Launches Another Batch of Starlink Satellites
UPI reports that SpaceX “launched its latest round of Starlink communication satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida just before midnight Saturday.” The mission had “been scrubbed Friday, with SpaceX saying a static fire of the rocket’s main engines would need to be performed, giving a hint to a possible rocket hardware issue.” The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage, which “launched the 54 satellites, safely returned to Earth, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, marking a record-tying 16th safe launch and landing of the rocket’s booster.” The first stage of another Falcon 9 rocket “launched on July 9 also landed safely on Earth for the 16th time, setting a record for the company. Saturday’s launch tied that record.” The return of Saturday’s first stage “marked the 207th time SpaceX has safely returned the first stage.”
Full Story (UPI)
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Starlink Mission
On Saturday, July 15 at 11:50 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 54 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Extends Record to 16 Missions for Falcon 9 Rocket
Aviation Week reports that SpaceX “launched the same Falcon 9 rocket for a record 16th time on July 9 and then landed the first stage, paving the way for a possible 17th flight.” The booster first “flew in May 2020 to send NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their way to the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
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Starlink Mission
On Sunday, July 9 at 11:58 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites, Scrubs Second Mission Planned for Sunday
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 rocket carried 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The company now has over 4,500 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth. The second of two planned launches was scrubbed due to weather. After the scrub of Sunday’s second launch, NASA and SpaceX teams “re-targeted 11:47 a.m. EDT Monday, June 5, for the next mission carrying cargo to the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
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Starlink Mission
On Sunday, June 4, at 8:20 a.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launches 22 Next-Generation Starlink Satellites
UPI reports that SpaceX successfully “launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying nearly two dozen satellites for its Starlink Internet mission into space early Friday.” The rocket’s payload included 22 second-generation mini Starlink satellites and was “launched at 2:31 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” The launch comes “after the mission suffered two previous delays, according to Spaceflight Now, with its first launch scheduled in April and it second for Thursday.”
Full Story (UPI)
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Starlink Mission
Friday, May 19 at 12:41 a.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission, Recovers Booster Successfully for 191st Time
UPI reports that on Sunday morning, SpaceX “successfully deployed another batch of Starlink satellites into space and successfully landed its first-stage booster.” The Falcon 9 rocket “lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station just after midnight.” The first-stage booster then “returned to Earth and landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after takeoff.” It marked SpaceX’s 191st successful “landing of the first stage, including Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.”
Full Story (UPI)
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Starlink Mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 56 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit Sunday, May 14 at 1:03 a.m. ET, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Falcon Heavy Lifts Off Following Scrubbed Mission
UPI reports that SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy rocket on Sunday night from Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A, loaded with a payload of competitor ViaSat-3 Americas broadband Internet satellite, as well as satellites by Astranis and Gravity Space. The mission “was scheduled to launch Friday evening but the mission was aborted with less than a minute left in the countdown.” Unlike most SpaceX missions, neither the side boosters “nor the core of the Falcon Heavy rocket will be recovered as ‘a lot of extra performance’ was required to deliver ViaSat-3’s 13,000-pound satellite into geostationary orbit above the Earth, Atticus Vadera, propulsion engineer with SpaceX, said during the live broadcast.” ViaSat-3 Americas satellite “is part of its network that seeks to provide satellite Internet the world over and is a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink Internet satellite constellation.”
Full Story (UPI)
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ViaSat-3 Americas Mission
On Sunday, April 30 at 8:26 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched the ViaSat-3 Americas mission from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Starship Explosion Sets Off FAA Investigation, Assessment of Particulate Matter Spread
CNBC reports that as SpaceX faces a standard practice FAA grounding of its “Starship Super Heavy launch program pending results of a ‘mishap investigation’” over the explosion of its vehicle last week, researchers also “are scrambling to assess the impact of the explosion on local communities, their health, habitat and wildlife including endangered species.” The primary issue “is the large amount of sand- and ash-like particulate matter and heavier debris kicked up by the launch. The particulate emissions spread far beyond the expected debris field,” which SpaceX “did not accurately predict.”
Full Story (CNBC)
SpaceX Launches Upgraded Starlink Satellites
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying more Starlink satellites. The flight was Starlink’s 80th dedicated mission since first launching in 2019. Spaceflight Now reports that the rocket carried 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which have “improved phased array antennas with four times the communications capacity of earlier generations of Starlink satellites.”
Full Story (Florida Today); More Info (Spaceflight Now)
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Starlink Mission
On Wednesday, April 19 at 10:31 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launched Satellite On Tuesday, Plans Saturday ISS Resupply Mission Launch
Florida Today reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “dodged inclement weather around Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to boost a French communications satellite to orbit late Tuesday, wrapping up one of two missions slated for this week.” The rocket’s Eutelsat 10B payload lifted off even though an earlier weather forecast predicted only a 10% “go” chance. The satellite’s purpose is to provide broadband internet for aviation and maritime applications.
Full Story (Florida Today)
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Eutelsat 10B satellite launch, November 22, 2022
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)