Update 10:19 pm EDT:
SpaceX Adjusts Launch Time for Starlink 6-17 Mission The new T-0 liftoff time is now 11:38 PM EDT (0338 UTC). The next liftoff time will be on September 20 at 12:28 am EDT (0428 UTC).
Original Story:
SpaceX will push the boundaries of booster reuse Tuesday night with the planned launch of a Falcon 9 using a first-stage rocket that will make its 17th flight. Liftoff from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral with 22 satellites for the Starlink Internet network is scheduled for 10:47 pm EDT (0247 UTC).
Booster serial number 1060 will be the record 17th flight for the Starlink 6-17 mission. Earlier this year SpaceX certified its Falcon 9 first stage boosters for 20 flights.
The booster first flew in June 2020 carrying the GPS 3-3 satellite for the US Space Force and went on to fly the Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34 and Transporter-6 missions and 11 Starlink deliveries. Airplanes.
Space Force meteorologists are closely monitoring a weather front south of Florida’s Space Coast and a storm forming along the Atlantic coast. In a forecast released Monday, they predicted a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather for the launch. Violation of the cumulus cloud rule is a major concern. With the development of a coastal storm, conditions worsen if the launch slips by a day, with only a 30 percent chance of acceptable weather.
It will be the 20th launch of the so-called V2 mini Starlink satellites, which will be larger and have four times the bandwidth of previous versions. The full-size V2 Starlink satellites were to be launched by SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship vehicle, but the delayed introduction of Starship led the company to develop a shortened version of the satellites so they could be launched on the Falcon 9.
