9.03.2023
Next Launch OneWeb 17 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFB, FL
scheduled for:
9 Mar 23 at 19:13 GMT
9 Mar 23 at 2:13pm Eastern
Quelle:AS
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Weather looks fantastic for SpaceX's next Falcon 9 launch and landing at the Cape Thursday
Space Coast weather is expected to be fantastic Thursday for SpaceX's mid-afternoon Falcon 9 liftoff, followed shortly by a sonic boom generated by a local booster landing attempt.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 40 will host the mission for OneWeb, slated to launch between 2:05 and 2:26 p.m. EST, while the first stage will attempt to touch down at Landing Zone 1 about eight minutes later. Weather conditions during the window are expected to be 95% "go."
"High pressure will build across the area for mid-week bringing fair conditions and onshore flow to the region," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Tuesday. "Another system is expected to track across the Tennessee Valley late in the week, dragging another front towards the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida by Friday."
The only concern for Thursday's mission is a slight chance of cumulus cloud formation.
About eight minutes after liftoff, spectators should expect a sometimes startling, but mostly harmless, sonic boom generated just before the 162-foot booster touches down at LZ-1.
OneWeb, a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink internet service, builds and operates satellites that provide internet connectivity to hard-to-reach destinations. OneWeb's constellation, sporting just over 500 of the Merritt Island-built satellites, is much smaller than SpaceX's Starlink, which stands at over 3,500.
OneWeb's satellite internet service is targeted toward business users, while SpaceX's Starlink seeks a wider audience ranging from residential to military users.
Until last year's falling out with Russia over the war in Ukraine, OneWeb had been launching its satellites on Russian Soyuz rockets. Thursday's mission will mark the third time a SpaceX rocket has lofted the competitor satellites.
Quelle:Florida Today
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Quelle:SpaceX