Into the night: SpaceX launches Starlink satellites Sunday from Cape Canaveral, Florida
After an initial delay of 42 minutes, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 8:53 p.m. Sunday night from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40, kicking off what promises to be another busy launch week on the Space Coast.
The bright night launch delighted onlookers. Rising into the Florida night sky, the rocket's payload included the next batch of 23 Starlink satellites: Starlink 6-58.
The Starlink satellites are a part of an ever-growing internet constellation. Occasionally, these "trains" can briefly appear in the night sky, and have been surprising sky watchers for years.
After eight and a half minutes, the Falcon 9 booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean − therefore no sonic booms in Central Florida. Although, the rocket's familiar rumble was heard along the Space Coast.
When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida
How many rocket launches from Florida this year?
Last year, the Space Coast saw a record of 72 launches. Not even half-way through 2024, Sunday's launch marked the 36th of the year for Florida. At this pace, it seems last year's record will be broken.
As for SpaceX, Sunday's launch marked the company's 344th launch overall, according to its website. The landing of this first stage marked the 307th landing of a SpaceX booster.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 booster launched on Sunday saw its 15th flight and provided SpaceX with a total of 278 reflights. It had previously been used for nine other Starlink missions, as well as memorable missions such as CRS-27 and Bandwagon-1.
What's next: Launch of Starliner Crewed Flight Test
The launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has been delayed until Tuesday, May 21st. Originally scheduled to launch on May 6, the mission was scrubbed for the night following an issue with an oxygen valve on the second stage of the Atlas V rocket.
"And every now and again, in rare occasions, a valve like that can get into a position where it's just off the seat. Its temperature, its stiffness, everything is just right. And it'll flutter. Or it'll buzz — in this case — in cycle," ULA President Tory Bruno said during a press conference which followed the May 6 night scrub.
"We've seen that before," said Bruno. "What you would typically do is activate the solenoid that forces the valve closed − cycling the valve, if you will − then you turn that on and let it return."
"Once we got the crew off, we cycled the valve and it stopped buzzing," said Bruno. "If this were a satellite, that is our standard procedure, and the satellite would already be in orbit. But that changes the state of the fueled Centaur, and we don't do that with people present. So our flight rules called for us to scrub."
After investigating the issue further, the team at ULA rolled the rocket back to the VIF (Vertical Integration Facility) to replace that faulty oxygen valve.
"A lot of things got to go right," added Mark Nappi, program manager of Boeing Commercial Crew, during the post scrub news conference. "It's not the majority of the things − everything has to go right before we launch."
Now the team is building toward the Tuesday afternoon crewed launch around 4:43 p.m..
SpaceX Starlink to launch on Friday night
According to a Geospatial Navigational Warning, SpaceX is planning a Starlink launch on Friday night. The notice shows a launch window open from 9:22 p.m. Friday until 1:53 a.m. on Saturday. SpaceX has yet to provide further details on this mission.
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Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Sunday rocket launch delivers Starlink satellites from Florida
