Weather should be excellent for mid-week SpaceX Falcon 9 launches and landings hours apart
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Update: SpaceX has delayed the launch of the OneWeb Launch 15 mission 48 hours until Thursday, Dec. 8 at 5:27 p.m. to allow for additional pre-launch checkouts. SpaceX has delayed the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 for iSpace to TBD.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
SpaceX is set for a Falcon 9 launch and landing doubleheader from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida this week. Shortly after liftoff spectators can expect window-rattling sonic booms as both launches will feature first-stage landing attempts at the Cape's two Landing Zones.
The launches will mark the 53rd and 54th of the year from Florida's Space Coast.
Up first from pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center is SpaceX's mission dubbed Launch 15 for communications company OneWeb. Liftoff is set for Tuesday afternoon at 5:37 p.m. ET followed by a landing attempt about 10 minutes later at the Cape's LZ-1. The Falcon 9 will fly a southern trajectory hugging the coast of South Florida as it threads between the state and the Bahamas.
Less than ten hours later at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's pad 40 a second Falcon 9 is set to fly the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 for the Japanese company, ispace. Liftoff then is set for 3:04 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 7 followed by a first stage somersault and landing attempt at the Cape's LZ-2.
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Over the weekend forecasters with the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron gave both launches a 90% chance of "go" weather conditions. The only concern that will linger for both launches after a frontal boundary passes early in the week is a slight chance of clouds.
"The weather pattern looks excellent for a launch attempt late Tuesday afternoon with the Cumulus Cloud and Thick Cloud Layers Rule being only a minor concern," Space Force forecasters said in a weekend weather report. "Quiet and generally dry weather is expected into the primary launch window early Wednesday morning with passing low-topped cumulus clouds in the vicinity posing a very small concern for launch weather."
Competition for SpaceX's Starlink service
Tuesday's Launch 15 mission is the first for OneWeb with SpaceX under a launch services agreement that was cemented in March.
Until early 2022 OneWeb had been flying its payloads on Russian Soyuz rockets from Kazakhstan under an agreement with the French launch provider, Arianespace. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the relationship soured due to sanctions imposed by one of OneWeb's owners: the U.K. government.
Technically a competitor of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet services, OneWeb is in the process of building out its own orbital constellation to provide worldwide internet connectivity services. The company builds the internet-beaming satellites at its Florida factory just a short distance from SpaceX's launch facilities.
A moonshot for Japan
Wednesday's mission will launch on a northeastern trajectory to deliver the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander to orbit for ispace. The spacecraft is designed to host payloads from other private and government organizations, like science investigations and small rovers.
If everything goes according to plan, it will take up to five months to reach the moon before preparing for landing. The company says the longer-than-usual process is designed to save fuel.
Ispace was established in 2010 with the goal of developing systems to deliver payloads to the moon.
Visit floridatoday.com/space 90 minutes before each launch attempt for live video and real-time updates.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie. Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.
Rocket launch TBD
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Mission: HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander
Launch Time: TBD
Launch Complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Trajectory: Northeast
Liftoff Weather: TBD
Landing: Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral
Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
Rocket launch Thursday, Dec. 8
Company / Agency: SpaceX for OneWeb
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Location: Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center
Launch Time: 5:27 PM EST
Trajectory: Southern
Weather: TBD
Landing: Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral
Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX set for Falcon 9 launch and landing doubleheader from Florida
