28.04.2025

Amazon-SpaceX Starlink satellite launch doubleheader tonight: Everything to know about missions

Prepare for a launch doubleheader tonight: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket should lift off back-to-back from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

First, ULA is targeting 7 p.m. to launch the Atlas V — which is outfitted with five solid rocket boosters — and deploy the first production batch of Amazon Project Kuiper broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. The launch window lasts two hours, until 9 p.m., and the rocket will fly along a northeasterly trajectory.

A few hours afterward, the Falcon 9 should lift off during a 4½-hour launch window extending from 9:37 p.m. to 2:08 a.m. Tuesday, a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory shows. That rocket will track to the southeast and deploy a payload of Starlink internet satellites.

No Central Florida sonic booms should occur during these missions. The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicted 75% odds of favorable weather for each liftoff, with cumulus clouds and anvil clouds posing meteorological threats.

Quelle: Florida Today