UPDATE: Fans watch the Falcon 9 with 22 Starlink satellites at 9:05pm EDT Saturday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and Orlando City MLS at Daytona International Speedway at Exploria Stadium in Orlando. Football. A successful launch followed Soon By landing a booster on a drone ship docked in the Atlantic Ocean.
Follow the live updates below as SpaceX targets Saturday’s 9:05pm EDT launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and 22 Starlink Internet satellites from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Space Force forecasters last reported that the weather was 95% “cell.”
After liftoff and flying southeast, Falcon 9 will fly on a southeast track and land aboard the Just Read the Instructions drone in the Atlantic Ocean.
If schedules hold, it will become the Space Coast’s 44th launch of the year and the second launch from the Space Coast within 18 hours, following the launch of Crew-7 earlier this morning from the Kennedy Space Center to the International Space Station.
For latest information, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Updates from Saturday’s event below:
Falcon 9 Landing:
9:14 PM EDT: The Falcon 9 first stage has landed aboard the Just Read the Instructions drone, completing its 3rd mission.
– Jamie Crow
Liftoff!
9:05 PM EDT: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 with 22 Starlinks satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It marked the agency’s second flight of the day, sending NASA’s Crew-7 mission with three astronauts and an astronaut from the nearby Kennedy Space Center to the International Space Station in less than 18 hours. The mission is expected to dock with the space station at 8:50 a.m. EDT Sunday after a 30-hour journey in orbit.
Here is the post-release timeline:
T-Plus:
- 00:01:12 minutes Max Q (moment of peak mechanical pressure of the rocket)
- 00:02:30 Minutes 1st Stage Main Engine Cut (MECO)
- 00:02:33 minutes 1st and 2nd stages are separate
- 00:02:40 minutes 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
- 00:03:07 minutes Fairing deployment
- 00:06:13 minutes 1st stage entry burn begins
- 00:06:33 minutes 1st stage entry burn ends
- 00:08:05 minutes 1st stage landing burn begins
- 00:08:28 minutes 1st stage landing
- 00:08:44 Minutes 2nd Stage Machine Cut (SECO-1)
- 00:54:06 minutes 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
- 01:05:15 Starlink satellites are being deployed
– Jamie Crow
D-minus 10 minutes:
8:55 PM EDT: Less than 10 minutes from now, the Falcon 9 will lift off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with 22 Starlink satellites at 9:05 PM EDT. Here’s a look at some of the remaining milestones to cross:
T-minus:
- 00:07:00 Minutes before Falcon 9 launches, the engine begins to cool down
- 00:01:00 min Command to start final preflight tests of flight computer
- 00:01:00 min Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
- 00:00:45 seconds SpaceX launch director checks to go to launch
- 00:00:03 Seconds The engine controller commands the engine to start the ignition sequence.
- 00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
– Jamie Crow
Falcon 9 refueling underway:
8:30 p.m. EDT: The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket has begun loading kerosene and liquid oxygen at Launch Complex 40. The weather is favorable.
– Jamie Crow
Countdown Timeline:
8:15 PM EDT: Check out the remaining countdown milestones on tonight’s mission:
T-minus:
- 00:38:00 minutes SpaceX launch director checks propellant loading
- 00:35:00 minutes Loading of RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) begins
- 00:35:00 minutes First stage LOX (Liquid Oxygen) loading begins
- 00:16:00 minutes 2nd stage LOX loading begins
- 00:07:00 Minutes before Falcon 9 launches, the engine begins to cool down
- 00:01:00 min Command to start final preflight tests of flight computer
- 00:01:00 min Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
- 00:00:45 seconds SpaceX launch director checks to go to launch
- 00:00:03 Seconds The engine controller commands the engine to start the ignition sequence.
- 00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
– Jamie Crow
D-minus one hour:
8:05 PM EDT: Just one more hour to start now. All signs point to SpaceX continuing to target today’s 9:05 pm EDT for liftoff of the Starlink 6-11 mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Tonight’s flight will mark the third flight for this particular Falcon 9 first-stage booster. After flying a course towards the southeast, it will target a drone ship that lands in the Atlantic Ocean. There are no local sonic booms with this mission.
– Jamie Crow
SpaceX is working toward liftoff:
7:00 PM EDT: SpaceX crews are still planning to launch this Starlink mission, called 6-11, from Launch Complex 40. A quick check of the weather shows that conditions around the spaceport are favorable for a liftoff tonight. Stay tuned for frequent updates as we progress through the countdown milestones.
– Jamie Crow
Welcome to live coverage:
6:00 PM EDT: good evening! Welcome to the live coverage of today’s second mission targeting liftoff from the Space Coast. SpaceX crews at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are aiming to lift off a Falcon 9 rocket with 22 Starlink satellites at 9:05 PM EDT.
Weather conditions were last reported as 95% “cell”. Release teams have a window until 11:04 pm EDT tonight if needed.
Stay tuned for frequent updates throughout the night as we approach the start of fueling, which begins 38 minutes prior to fueling.
– Jamie Crow
