Next Falcon 9 Targets NET Tuesday for Starlink Launch

Only days after it triumphantly launched and brought the life-leading B1049 core to a smooth touchdown on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), SpaceX is primed for its second Falcon 9 mission of March as early as Tuesday evening.

Liftoff of the veteran B1058 booster—which first saw service to lift NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to orbit aboard Dragon Endeavour last May—is scheduled to occur from storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., as soon as 9:55 p.m. EST Tuesday. Laden with a 60-strong batch of Starlink low-orbiting internet communications satellites, this will be B1058’s sixth launch, positioning it as only the fourth member of SpaceX’s fleet to log so many missions.

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Quelle: AS

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Update: 9.03.2021

SpaceX banking on gusty winds subsiding for launch Tuesday

UPDATE: SpaceX now says it is targeting 9:58 p.m. Tuesday evening for launch.

Launch fans are wondering if the strong wind gusts that have whipped across the Space Coast will subside in time for Tuesday's launch of the next batch of Starlink satellites.

It looks like they will.

The 45th Space Wing's weather squadron is forecasting 90% go for SpaceX's 21st launch of a Falcon 9 carrying 60 more Starlink satellites no earlier than 8:58 p.m. Tuesday. The primary weather concerns for a launch attempt Tuesday evening are liftoff winds and the "cumulus cloud rule associated with the onshore flow.

The launch window extends to 10:58 pm from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Pad 40.

The forecast for Wednesday is slightly worse projecting 80% go for launch.

Last week's successful launch brought the total number of satellites boosted to low earth orbit to 1,200 in the company's effort to provide satellite internet to consumers.

According to CNBC, SpaceX recently filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission to allow it to connect moving vehicles including cars, trucks, jets and ships to its Starlink network.

“This application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based components for SpaceX’s satellite system that will expand the range of broadband capabilities available to moving vehicles throughout the United States and to moving vessels and aircraft worldwide,” SpaceX director of satellite policy David Goldman wrote in a letter to the FCC filed on Friday.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 10.03.2021

SpaceX Starlink launch pushed back until early Thursday morning

UPDATE 7:47 PM: Launch is scrubbed to allow "some additional time for pre-launch checks." SpaceX now targeting Thursday 3:13 a.m.