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The primary of two Falcon 9 missions SpaceX is planning for Sunday will carry into orbit the most important batch of second-generation Starlink satellites to be launched from the West Coast. It is going to be the fiftieth Starlink launch of the yr.
The Falcon 9 is scheduled to liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2 a.m. PDT (5 a.m. EDT / 0900 UTC) with 22 satellites aboard. There are back up launch times available at 2:50:40 a.m. PDT (5:50:40 p.m. EDT / 09:50:40 UTC) and three:08:40 a.m. PDT (6:08:40 a.m. EDT / 10:08:40 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will provide launch coverage in our 24-7 Launch Pad Live stream.
The California launch might be followed on Sunday by one other Starlink delivery mission carrying 23 satellites, which is able to launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 UTC).
The Starlink 7-6 mission might be the primary time a Falcon 9 has carried 22 of the so-called V2 Mini satellites from the West Coast. Previously, missions from there had been limited to fifteen or 21 Starlinks, depending on the orbit. On the East Coast, a Falcon 9 launched 23 V2 Minis per week ago on Oct. 21, yet another than the previous maximum load for a mission from the Cape.
SpaceX has not explained the way it is achieving this extra delivery capability. It’s possibly due an improvement within the rated performance of the Falcon 9 or perhaps a producing change that has reduced the satellites’ total weight.
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster, tail number B1075, is making its seventh flight. It entered service in January of this yr carrying 51 older generation Starlinks into orbit. It went on to launch the Tranche 0 Flight 1 mission for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency after which made 4 more Starlink delivery flights. It last flew on Sept. 25, making for a 34-day turnaround.
After separating from the Falcon 9 second stage, B1075 will proceed downrange for a landing on the droneship Of Course I Just Love You, which might be stationed within the Pacific off shore of Baja California.
The 22 Starlink satellites might be released from the second-stage just over an hour into flight. A successful deployment will bring the overall variety of Starlink satellites in orbit to 4,989, based on statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell.
If this launch goes on time, SpaceX may have completed 25 orbital missions from Vandenberg within the last one year, a mean of 1 launch every 14.6 days. Including launches from Cape Canaveral, it would be the 89th orbital mission for SpaceX within the last one year, a launch every 4.1 days on average.