SpaceX is targeting its eightieth mission of the yr tonight with the launch of a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida no sooner than 11:31 p.m. ET (04:31 UTC on the eighth), per the corporate’s website.
This Starlink mission represents the 76th Falcon 9 mission of the yr and the forty sixth from Space Launch Complex 40.
Targeting Tuesday, November 7 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 @Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 6, 2023
23 V2 mini Starlink satellites shall be sent right into a 43-degree orbital inclination, with deployment coming just over an hour after launch. The Falcon 9 assigned to this mission is Booster 1073 and shall be flying for its eleventh time. This booster has previously launched 6 Starlink missions, two communications satellites, the Hakuto-R lunar mission, and 1 Space Station resupply mission.
Following its portion of the flight, B1073 will land on the droneship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ roughly eight and a half minutes after lift-off. Speaking of JRTI, it had recently returned to Port Canaveral with B1077 following a Starlink mission. It was then turned around and prepped to go back to sea just 12 hours later, showcasing the sleek flow SpaceX has developed with drone ships and the fleet overall.
With just lower than two months remaining within the yr, SpaceX is aiming to launch 100 missions this yr and can add to the count with two more launches scheduled later this week.
SpaceX and NASA are currently targeting 8:28 p.m. ET Thursday, November ninth, for the launch of the CRS-28 resupply mission to the International Space Station, and on the eleventh, SpaceX is readying the Transporter 9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, each of those launches will see the primary stages return to their landings sites following launch.
If SpaceX cannot launch the Starlink mission later tonight, they’ve seven more opportunities stretching until 2:59 a.m. ET. Weather shouldn’t be a problem tonight, though, with the forty fifth Space Weather Squadron showing a lower than 5 percent likelihood of violating weather criteria.
If you should watch the launch, SpaceX will begin the live stream on X 5 minutes before lift-off.