5.01.2023

SpaceX eyes West Coast for first Starlink launch of 2023

SpaceX is reportedly planning to launch its first Starlink mission of 2023 from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Next Spaceflight reports that SpaceX is preparing to launch Starlink 2-4 no earlier than (NET) 6:54 pm PST on January 8th, almost eight weeks after unspecified issues with a Falcon 9 rocket indefinitely delayed the mission. While it’s impossible to confirm if the entire two-stage rocket and fairing were transferred, the Falcon 9 booster originally assigned to launch Starlink 2-4 on November 18th, 2022 instead launched an Israeli Earth observation satellite six weeks later.

Thankfully, after a strange and abrupt surge of technical (and indefinite) launch delays in November and December, SpaceX managed to complete its last three Falcon 9 launches without issue. The successful launch of the Falcon 9 booster assigned to Starlink 2-4 further suggests that whatever caused that surge is mostly behind SpaceX. So will the belated launch of Starlink 2-4 itself.

Signs of a return to sure footing are good for SpaceX’s plans to double down on its extraordinary growth in 2022. SpaceX rounded out the year with 61 successful orbital launches – just one shy of doubling its still impressive 31-launch record in 2021. 61 launches were also enough for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to tie an almost half-century-old Soviet record for the most annual launches completed by one family of rockets.

Merely repeating that feat in 2023 would be unprecedented in the history of spaceflight. But SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk have again set their sights high and are targeting up to 100 launches this year – a 64% increase over 2022. Though it sounds improbable and will be even more difficult to achieve, SpaceX’s plans for the first month of 2023 are almost exactly what one would expect to see from a single company attempting to launch (up to) 100 times in one year.

OFF TO THE RACES

SpaceX kicked off 2023 with the launch of its sixth Transporter rideshare mission on January 3rd. Unofficial public manifests like Next Spaceflight and Ben Cooper report that SpaceX wants to launch Starlink 2-4 on January 8th, followed by a batch of OneWeb satellites just two hours later. SpaceX’s fifth Falcon Heavy launch is scheduled to follow as early as January 12th, and a Falcon 9 rocket could launch the US military’s sixth GPS III satellite on January 18th. One or two more Starlink missions and the Amazonus Nexus geostationary communications satellite could round out the second half of the month.

Ultimately, whatever caused SpaceX’s late-year uptick in delays proved to be mostly inconsequential. Despite missing opportunities for an even busier year and not launching once between November 26th and December 8th, December 2022 was SpaceX’s first seven-launch calendar month on record. If just one of SpaceX’s most chronically delayed missions (Hakuto-R) had avoided delays, it’s likely the company would have launched eight times in one month – equivalent to 96 launches if sustained for a year.

Meanwhile, if Starlink 2-4 does launch on January 8th, it will beat SpaceX’s 11.75-day West Coast turnaround record by 45 hours, breaking into the single digits (9.8 days) for the first time. If its two East Coast Falcon pads can also push the envelope throughout the year and the company can keep its extraordinary failure-free streak going, SpaceX has a surprisingly legitimate opportunity to launch 80, 90, or even 100 Falcon rockets in 2023.

Quelle: TESLARATI

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Update: 8.01.2023

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Space Force: Weather excellent for weekend launch and Cape landing

Weather conditions should be excellent for SpaceX's next launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a mission that will close out the weekend with sonic booms generated by a local booster landing.

Teams at Launch Complex 40 are looking to fly a 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket during a 20-minute window that opens at 11:45 p.m. EST Sunday, then land the booster a few miles south at Landing Zone 1. Weather during the window is expected to be 90% "go."

"High pressure over northern Gulf Coast will dominate through the weekend, with cooler, drier air persisting," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Friday. "By late Sunday, onshore flow will slowly increase moisture resulting in a slight chance of low-topped showers off the coast, with the cumulus cloud rule as the only concern."

Temperatures should hover around 65 degrees at 64% humidity at liftoff, making for ideal spectating conditions. Those watching will see the rocket's 162-foot first stage touch down about eight minutes after liftoff.

As usual, sonic booms will be generated just before landing. Though startling, they are largely harmless.

Sunday night's launch will mark SpaceX's second mission for OneWeb, a competitor in the satellite internet industry. OneWeb was flying on Russian hardware before the war in Ukraine, after which it switched to SpaceX for launch services.

OneWeb's internet constellation is smaller and more targeted to business users, while SpaceX's Starlink network takes aim at a wider audience ranging from residential to military uses. OneWeb has launched about 500 of its Merritt Island-built satellites, while SpaceX stands at roughly 3,500.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 10.01.2023

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SpaceX’s first Starlink launch of 2023 set to fly from California

SpaceX’s first launch of Starlink internet satellites this year was set to blast off from California’s Central Coast Monday night, but high winds and storms could stood in the way of the Falcon 9 rocket lifting off with 51 new broadband relay stations.

Another launch attempt is scheduled Tuesday night.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to fire off its launching pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:02 p.m. PST (11:02 p.m. EST; 0402 GMT) to kick off SpaceX’s first Starlink mission of 2023. It’s also the first launch of the year from Vandenberg.

The 51 Starlink internet satellites on-board the rocket will bring the total number of Starlink spacecraft launched to 3,717.

The mission will debut a brand new Falcon 9 booster, designated B1075, making its first flight to space. The 15-story-tall first stage booster will fire about two-and-a-half minutes before separating to begin a descent toward SpaceX’s drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles downrange from Vandenberg.

The Falcon 9 will head southeast from the California spaceport, targeting an orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The mission will aim to deploy the 51 Starlink satellites into Group 2 of the constellation.

SpaceX’s first-generation Starlink fleet is spread out into five groups, or orbital shells, between 335 miles and 354 miles in altitude. The first-generation Starlink shells are inclined at different angles to the equator, with some satellites orbiting between 53 degrees north and south latitude, and others in orbits flying from pole-to-pole.

The Starlink satellites on this launch, named Starlink 2-4, will fly in an orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. Its the second launch into Group 2, following a mission in September 2021 that also carried 51 Starlink spacecraft into orbit.

SpaceX began launching satellites into its second-generation Starlink constellation, called Gen2, last month. The Starlink 2-4 mission will continue filling out the first-generation Starlink fleet.

The Federal Communications Commission granted SpaceX approval Dec. 1 to launch up to 7,500 of its planned 29,988-spacecraft Starlink Gen2 constellation. The regulatory agency deferred a decision on the remaining satellites SpaceX proposed for Gen2.

The FCC previously authorized SpaceX to launch and operate roughly 4,400 first-generation Ka-band and Ku-band Starlink spacecraft that SpaceX has been launching since 2019.

The Gen2 satellites could improve Starlink coverage over lower latitude regions, and help alleviate pressure on the network from growing consumer uptake. SpaceX said last month the network now has more than 1 million active subscribers. The Starlink spacecraft beam broadband internet signals to consumers around the world, connectivity that is now available on all seven continents with testing underway at a research station in Antarctica.

Quelle: SN

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Update: 16.01.2023

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Watch SpaceX launch 51 Starlink internet satellites on Jan. 19 after delays