It's launch day! What you need to know about SpaceX's next Falcon 9 mission from the Cape
Update: Liftoff of Falcon 9 at 11:36 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, August 16, followed shortly by a drone ship first-stage booster landing in the Atlantic. Read our full post-launch story here.
SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida are on track to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, August 16, with another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites. Follow FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live launch coverage beginning 90 minutes before liftoff.
The launch is set for 8:14 p.m. EDT but weather isn't looking great at that time so there's a chance it could slip later into the four-hour launch window.
This would become the Space Coast's 42nd launch this year.
When is the SpaceX launch:
Liftoff is set for 8:14 p.m. EDT with a four-hour launch window Wednesday that extends until midnight. Should teams need it, other launch opportunities are available around the same time, 24 hours later on Thursday, Aug. 17.
What is the weather outlook for the launch:
Space Force forecasters last reported weather conditions to be 20% "go" at the opening of the window but should improve to 65% by the end.
Here's everything you need to know:
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 40 will host.
The payload is the company's next batch of Starlink internet-beaming satellites.
The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket will follow a southeasterly trajectory threading between Florida and the Bahamas.
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If it launches on time, it will mark the Space Coast's 42nd launch this year.
No local sonic booms with this mission.
The 130-foot first-stage booster will target a drone ship landing about eight minutes after liftoff.
When's the next launch?
The next Falcon 9 slated for liftoff from Florida will send NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Targeted for liftoff at 3:49 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 25, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will fly aboard SpaceX's Endurance Dragon capsule to the space station for the six-month science mission.
Before then, SpaceX could schedule another Falcon 9 Starlink mission from the Cape, but no specific launch dates have been released.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X.com at @AlteredJamie.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: It's launch day! SpaceX set for Falcon 9 Starlink mission from the Cape
