SpaceX launch: Live updates from Starlink Falcon 9 launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida

Gear up for an afternoon SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch today from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live coverage of the 2:42 p.m. EDT SpaceX Starlink 6-56 mission from pad 39A. The original launch target was 11 a.m. — but the company has announced a trio of delays, pushing liftoff to the end of today's window.

The Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of Starlink internet satellites, which are packed inside the fairing atop the 230-foot rocket.

Expect 90% odds of favorable weather, per the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron, with a slight concern of sea breeze-fueled cumulus clouds and a moderate risk of detrimental solar activity.

No Central Florida sonic booms are expected with this mission. After ascending skyward along a southeasterly trajectory, the rocket's first-stage booster will target landing aboard a SpaceX drone ship out at sea nearly 8½ minutes after liftoff.

When SpaceX's live webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) becomes available about five minutes before liftoff, it will be posted below the countdown clock.

Quelle: Florida Today

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Update: 9.05.2024

SpaceX rocket launches on Starlink mission after hours of delay Wednesday at Cape Canaveral

Liftoff took three hours and 42 minutes longer than anticipated. But a thrice-delayed SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket finally launched from pad 39A during a balmy Wednesday afternoon at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX had originally scheduled the Starlink 6-56 mission launch for 11 a.m. EDT, but three postponements pushed the Falcon 9's fiery liftoff back to 2:42 p.m. The rocket carried 23 Starlink satellites up into low-Earth orbit.

"Blue seas and blue skies for Falcon 9 landing," SpaceX officials said in a tweet after the rocket's first-stage booster returned to Earth and touched down atop the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

Quelle: Florida Today

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STARLINK MISSION

On Wednesday, May 8 at 2:42 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 third flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-8 and now two Starlink missions.