SpaceX to launch delayed Starlink 10-2 mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida

After a back-to-back scrub, followed by a rare T-0 abort on June 14,Space X will try once again to launch the Starlink 10-2 mission.

SpaceX is aiming for a liftoff time of 1:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday, yet the launch window runs until 5:01 p.m. if needed.

This is the mission that resulted in an unusual scrub for SpaceX. After the Falcon 9 engines ignited on June 14, spectators watched as nothing happened with the rocket. The clock was at T-0, yet the rocket was still on the pad. There had been an abort − something of a rarity for SpaceX.

SpaceX did not give an official answer about what happened to this Starlink mission. However, the company's VP of launch, Kiko Dontchev, took to X the following evening with a statement that the rocket had experienced a hardware issue. SpaceX decided to take the troubled Falcon 9 off Space Launch Complex 40 to get German TV satellite Astra 1P to the pad. But then weather got in the way of that launch.

Finally, on Thursday, Astra 1P rocketed off Space Launch Complex 40, ending an almost two-week launch drought on the Space Coast.

The launch drought wasn't due to just weather and technical issues. With SpaceX only having access to Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A and Space Launch Complex 40, this made for a bit of a rocket traffic jam as teams were already preparing to raise a Falcon Heavy rocket on Pad 39A.

The payload of that triple-core Falcon Heavy is the GOES-U weather satellite, which is set to liftoff as soon as 5:16 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

SpaceX upcoming rocket launches from Florida

Before we see GOES-U carried to orbit on a Falcon Heavy, SpaceX has plans to get this Starlink 10-2 off from Launch Complex 40. If SpaceX cannot launch during Sunday's window, a backup opportunity exists on Monday beginning at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Being from the Starlink Group 10, this Falcon 9 will be launching into the northeast.

Quelle: Florida Today

----

Update: 23.06.2024

SpaceX is targeting Sunday, June 23 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 1:15 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 5:01 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Monday, June 24 starting at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 11th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-6, mPOWER-B, USSF-124, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.