It's launch day! Everything you need to know before Cape Canaveral's next SpaceX launch
Update: Liftoff of Falcon 9 with 22 Starlink satellites at 10:21 p.m. EDT Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A booster landing aboard a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean followed a short while later. Read our full post-launch story here.
It's another SpaceX Falcon 9 launch day.
SpaceX teams are on track to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with another batch of 22 of the company's Starlink internet satellites.
Liftoff of the Starlink 6-13 mission is tentatively slated for 10:21 p.m. EDT.
If teams need them, there are five additional launch opportunities throughout the four-hour launch window that extends until 11:29 p.m. EDT. Dismal weather conditions at the opening of the launch window are projected to improve gradually throughout the night.
Follow FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live launch coverage beginning 90 minutes before liftoff.
If schedules hold, this would become the Space Coast's 45th launch this year.
When is the SpaceX launch tonight:
Liftoff is tentatively set for 10:21 p.m. EDT, with a four-hour launch window on Thursday that extends until 11:29 p.m. EDT. Should teams need it, other launch opportunities are available around the same time, 24 hours later on Friday.
What is the weather outlook for the Falcon 9 launch:
Space Force forecasters last reported weather conditions to be 20% "go" at the opening of the window but should improve to 35% by the end.
"Though showers and storms will be possible at any point, more daytime heating will bring a maximum of activity in the late afternoon, with west-southwest flow focusing any ongoing activity towards the coast into the evening hours," forecasters with the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron said in a report Wednesday.
"Where exactly the boundary sets up along with any other trailing bands behind (Hurricane Idalia) will determine exactly how long showers and storms may be ongoing late Thursday evening and into the primary launch window," forecasters said.
The primary concerns for liftoff during the launch window were listed as a threat of anvil and cumulus clouds that could produce showers and lighting around the spaceport throughout the evening.
Here's everything else 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 45th 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 from Florida's Space Coast?
The next Falcon 9 slated for liftoff from Florida will send another batch of Starlink satellites to orbit, but this time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center if schedules hold.
Though the company has yet to confirm its existence, federal filings have liftoff of SpaceX's Starlink 6-12 mission from KSC's pad 39A targeted to happen during a launch window from 7:37 p.m. to 11:37 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
Shortly after liftoff, that mission will also feature another drone ship landing. Space Coast residents shouldn't have any sonic booms to worry about this weekend.
Meanwhile, the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket set to carry a national security payload will have to wait a while longer for its opportunity for liftoff. Late Monday, ULA returned the rocket back to the protection of the company's vertical integration facility, grounding the NROL-107 mission until sometime after the impacts of Hurricane Idalia.
"We will work with our customer and the range to confirm our next launch attempt, and a new date will be provided once it is safe to launch," ULA released in a statement Monday.
When these missions do launch, follow FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live launch coverage beginning 90 minutes before liftoff. For the latest schedule updates, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X at @AlteredJamie.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launch tonight: Everything to know before liftoff
