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A Falcon 9 rocket is to launch tonight with one other batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink web service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for 12:05 a.m. EDT (0505 UTC).
The forty fifth Weather Squadron in a forecast issued Thursday, predicted a 60-percent likelihood of acceptable conditions for launch. After days of wet and windy weather, skies cleared briefly Friday before foggy conditions descended on the Space Coast after sunset. If needed there are as many as five additional launch opportunities Friday night into Saturday morning. The last of which is at 2:59 a.m. EST (0759 UTC).
Spaceflight Now’s live coverage of the launch will get underway about an hour before liftoff. You may also watch 24-7 views of launch pads on the Cape in our Launch Pad Live stream.
The Falcon 9 is carrying 23 second-generation V2 mini satellites and can head on a south-easterly trajectory after launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Following stage separation, about two and half minutes into flight, booster 1069, which is making its eleventh flight, will arc towards a landing on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” which will likely be stationed about 420 miles (675 km) downrange within the Atlantic east of the Bahamas.
It’s going to be SpaceX’s 54th Starlink delivery mission in 2023 and the corporate’s 84th orbital launch of the 12 months. If all goes in accordance with plan, the satellites, will likely be released into orbit an hour and five minutes after liftoff. SpaceX announced early this 12 months it had signed up over two million subscribers in greater than 60 countries for its Starlink web service.
It’s a busy weekend for SpaceX with the second test flight of its recent Starship vehicle scheduled for 7 a.m. CST (8 a.m. EST (1300 UTC) and a further 22 Starlink satellites as a consequence of launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Saturday night. Liftoff of the Starlink 7-7 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E is scheduled for 10:55 p.m. PST (1:55 a.m. EST/0655 UTC).