After a two-week landing period, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fleet will return to flight on a Starlink mission after midnight, launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Welcome to the FLORIDA TODAY space team’s live coverage of the Starlink 10-9 mission. After several delays, SpaceX is headed for liftoff Saturday at 1:45 a.m. EDT from Pad 39A. Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of 23 Starlink Internet satellites that are packed into the fairing atop the 230-foot rocket.
No sonic booms are expected in Central Florida. After soaring into the sky on a northeast trajectory, the rocket’s first-stage booster will aim to land aboard a SpaceX unmanned ship at sea approximately 8½ minutes after liftoff.
When SpaceX’s live webcast, hosted on X (formerly Twitter), becomes available about five minutes before liftoff, it will be posted below the countdown clock.
Cape Canaveral:Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida
The timing of a SpaceX rocket launch seems clear
Update at 1:35am: This National Weather Service radar shows no notable cloud cover over Cape Canaveral. Ten minutes until takeoff.
SpaceX booster for drone landing
1:30 am update: Tonight’s mission marks the 17th flight for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, SpaceX said.
The multi-trip booster has previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19, and a dozen Starlink missions.
After the stage separation, crews expect the booster to land on SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions unmanned ship in the Atlantic Ocean 8 minutes, 14 seconds after liftoff.
SpaceX launch countdown timeline
1:20am update: Here’s a quick look at SpaceX’s remaining countdown timeline as we approach our 1:45 AM liftoff target. T-minus:
- 16 minutes: Secondary liquid oxygen refueling begins.
- 7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine cooling before launch.
- 1 minute: The command flight computer begins final pre-launch checks; pressurization of the fuel tank to flight pressure begins.
- 45 seconds: SpaceX’s launch director confirms “launch” for launch.
- 3 seconds: The engine controller commands the engine firing sequence to begin.
- 0 seconds: I’m taking off.
SpaceX Falcon 9 refueling is about to begin
1:10 am update: SpaceX has just announced that Falcon 9 refueling procedures are about to begin at pad 39A – and “all systems look good.”
This means tonight’s Starlink countdown will be locked for a 1:45am liftoff without any delays, otherwise the launch would have to be postponed.
SpaceX explains why Falcon 9 failed on July 11
Update at 12:52am: In a statement released Thursday evening, SpaceX officials provided insight into why the Falcon 9’s upper stage malfunctioned after its July 11 launch from California.
“Post-flight data reviews confirmed that the Falcon 9 booster first stage performed nominally through ascent, stage separation and a successful drone landing. During the first burn of the Falcon 9 second stage engine, a leak of liquid oxygen occurred in the insulation around the upper stage engine,” the statement said.
“The cause of the leak was identified as a crack in a pressure sensor line attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system. This line ruptured due to fatigue caused by high engine vibration loads and a loose clamp that normally restrains the line,” the statement said.
“Despite the leak, the second stage engine continued to operate during its first burn and completed engine shutdown where it entered the coast phase of the mission in the planned elliptical parking orbit.”
NWS radar shows clear skies at Cape Canaveral
Update at 12:30 p.m.: This radar line from the National Weather Service station at Melbourne Orlando International Airport shows no significant clouds over Cape Canaveral, although widespread showers linger northwest of Orlando and offshore from Daytona Beach.
SpaceX launch preparations are underway in Brevard
Update at 12:10am: Brevard County emergency management officials have activated the agency’s launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX postpones the launch again to 1:45 am
Update at 23:42: Another delay. Takeoff has been delayed another hour, until 1:45 a.m. Saturday.
The Starlink service supports the 2024 Paris Olympics
Update at 11:31 p.m.: This afternoon, Starlink representatives shared a video on TikTok showing the company’s broadband equipment supporting a live stream of the Olympic flame traveling through the streets of Paris.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games took place today.
SpaceX delays liftoff until 12:59 a.m
Update at 23:11: SpaceX officials just announced that they are now targeting 12:59 a.m. Saturday for liftoff, a 38-minute delay.
Cosmic Forces: 85% chance of launch time
Update at 11pm: The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron puts the chances of favorable launch weather at 85 percent.
“The axis of the western Atlantic ridge is north of the spaceport, and the deep onshore flow continues to rapidly drive east coast sea breezes onshore each afternoon. The lingering effects of the Saharan dust will keep conditions drier than normal, with less chance of coastal showers overnight,” the squadron said in a forecast.
“The primary weather concern for experience early Saturday morning is a cumulus cloud rule associated with wandering coastal rain,” the forecast said.
For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neal is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale atRneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Space is important to us, and that’s why we work to bring you the best coverage of Florida’s industry and startups. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it by subscribing here.
