A pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets to lift off this week: Best places to view them

Looking for things to do, places to go? Consider watching a rocket launch (or two) this week!

A pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets will potentially lift off Thursday and Friday this week on different missions (see below).

NASA announced the upcoming CRS-30 mission — where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon cargo spacecraft carrying science experiments, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:55 p.m. EST Thursday, March 21. That rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Afterward, the first-stage booster will produce sonic booms here by targeting a landing at the military installation.

What's in spacecraft launching Thursday: SpaceX CRS-30 to launch Thursday afternoon. Here's what to expect from this mission.

A day later, SpaceX will potentially deliver a batch of Starlink internet satellites. The launch window is from 7:55 p.m. EST Friday, March 22, to 12:26 a.m. Saturday, March 23.

Both launches occur in the late afternoon to evening at a time when Florida spring weather is slightly breezy with cooler temperatures. The launch windows are scheduled around the time of happy hour, early bird dinner or late-night eats, if you’re considering dinner and a launch.

Rocket launch calendar for Florida

Below is more info about the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches this week and suggestions on where to watch them.

Thursday, March 21: NASA's SpaceX CRS-30

Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon cargo spacecraft carrying science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

Launch: 4:55 p.m. EST Thursday, March 21

Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Local sonic boom: Yes

Booster landing: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Friday, March 22: SpaceX Starlink

Though SpaceX has yet to publicly confirm this mission's existence, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warning indicates a rocket launch window will open Friday night. More details:

Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink internet satellites from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Launch window: 7:55 p.m. Friday to 12:26 a.m. Saturday.
Location: Pad 39A.
Trajectory: Southeast.
Local sonic boom: No.
Booster landing: Drone ship out on the Atlantic Ocean.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 24.03.2024

STARLINK MISSION

On Saturday, March 23 at 11:09 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This was the 19th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, Intuitive Machines IM-1, and now 13 Starlink missions.