SpaceX Starlink 6-13 Mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the company’s latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on August 31, 2023.
Florida Today
It’s launch day!
SpaceX is targeting 9:06 p.m. EDT for launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A batch of 22 Starlink internet satellites is packed inside the 230-foot rocket’s payload fairing.
After soaring skyward along a southeastern trajectory, the Falcon 9’s first stage booster is set to target a drone ship landing out at sea about 8½ minutes after liftoff. No local sonic booms expected.
Check back for live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team launch coverage updates to be posted on this page, starting 90 minutes before the launch window opens. When SpaceX’s live webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) becomes available about five minutes before liftoff, it will be posted at the top of this page.
SpaceX’s target time to launch the Starlink 6-22 mission is 9:06 p.m. EDT Sunday.
If needed, SpaceX crews will have four backup launch opportunities from 9:57 p.m. until 12:29 a.m. EDT Monday.
More: Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings
Space Force: 80% chance of good launch weather
The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron pegged the odds of “go” weather for launch at 80%, with a potential thick cloud layer serving as the primary climatological concern with the arrival of a cold front.
“Any real threat for rain chances will end by late Sunday morning as the boundary moves into South Florida. Though lower levels will veer out of the north-northwest and tap into a cooler and drier airmass, the mid and upper level trough axis will be slower to cross the region,” the launch forecast said.
“With a robust southern stream upper level jet overhead, southwesterly flow will continue to stream in moisture overhead leading to ongoing mid and upper level cloud cover along with a small threat for post frontal drizzle. Exactly how high and thick this cloud cover manifests as will be the main forecast concern, with the potential for thick cloud layer violations going into the primary launch window Sunday night,” the forecast said.
SpaceX launch tonight: Here’s everything you need to know
- Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 will host.
- The payload is the company’s next batch of 22 Starlink internet-beaming satellites.
- The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket will follow a southeasterly trajectory, threading between Florida and the Bahamas.
- If it launches on time, it will mark the Space Coast’s 55th launch this year.
- No local sonic booms will occur with this mission.
- The 130-foot first stage booster will target a drone ship landing about 8½ minutes after liftoff.
When is the next launch from Florida’s Space Coast?
SpaceX teams are preparing for the upcoming Thursday morning launch of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft aboard a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
NASA’s Psyche mission is schedule for launch no earlier than 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday from pad 39A.
The Psyche spacecraft will spend nearly six years journeying about 2.2 billion miles to reach the metallic asteroid of the same name, which orbits the sun within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
After a July 2029 rendezvous, the spacecraft will orbit, map and study the 144-mile-long asteroid for 26 months.
When is the next SpaceX Starlink launch from the Cape?
More SpaceX Starlink missions are expected to be launched soon from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but the company hasn’t yet announced when the next mission is targeted for liftoff. For the latest schedule updates, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here). Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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