Updates: SpaceX Starlink launch Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida

Rick Neale, Florida Today
Updated ·5 min read
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Updates: Scroll down for live coverage of the 11:01 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 18, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live coverage of tonight’s SpaceX Starlink 6-34 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX is targeting a window from 11:01 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST Tuesday to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This Starlink mission would mark the first launch from the Cape since Dec. 7 after a series of scrubs and delays, many due to inclement weather conditions.

The Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites, which are packed inside the nose cone atop the 230-foot rocket. No local sonic booms are expected. After soaring skyward along a southeastern trajectory, the rocket's first-stage booster will target landing aboard a drone ship out at sea 8½ minutes after liftoff.

Countdown Timer

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster lands

Update 11:09 p.m. EST: The Falcon 9 first-stage booster just landed aboard SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean.

Liftoff!

Update 11:01 p.m. EST: SpaceX has just launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX live launch webcast begins

Update 10:56 p.m. EST: SpaceX's live launch webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) is now posted at the top of this page.

Liftoff is scheduled in five minutes from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX also eyeing Friday Starlink launch

Update 10:51 p.m. EST: Though SpaceX has yet to make an announcement, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warning indicates Cape Canaveral's next launch window will open late Friday night and extend 4½ hours into early Saturday morning.

This upcoming launch window opens at 11 p.m. Friday and extends until 3:31 a.m. Saturday. Those hours mirror those of tonight's Starlink 6-34 mission.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch coming up

Update 11:42 p.m. EST: Fueling procedures are well underway at Launch Complex 40. Here is a list of key upcoming countdown milestones. T-minus:

  • 16 minutes: Second-stage liquid oxygen loading begins.

  • 7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.

  • 1 minute: Command flight computer begins final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.

  • 45 seconds: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for launch.

  • 3 seconds: Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start.

  • 0 seconds: Falcon 9 liftoff.

SpaceX Falcon 9 fueling now underway

Update 10:29 p.m. EST: Visual cues indicate Falcon 9 fueling procedures are now underway at Launch Complex 40, though SpaceX has yet to make an official announcement.

"All systems are looking good and weather is currently favorable for tonight’s launch of 23 @Starlink satellites from Florida," SpaceX announced in a tweet.

SpaceX Starlink launch to boost payload totals

Update 10:09 p.m. EST: Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, touted the Cape's bustling orbital launch schedule in a Dec. 12 morning tweet.

"Florida spaceports have sent approximately 1,918,600 lbs. of payloads to orbit in 2023," the Space Florida tweet said.

"We are likely to reach 2 million lbs. to orbit by (end of year)," the tweet said.

Hours later on Dec. 12, SpaceX crews scrubbed an attempt to launch the Starlink 6-34 mission with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining in the countdown, citing high ground-level winds. No launches have happened on the Space Coast since.

Cape Canaveral seeing mild pre-launch winds

Update 9:49 p.m. EST: Unlike the unsuitably windy weather the Space Coast saw during the past week, a west breeze of 13 mph was blowing at 8:55 p.m. at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the National Weather Service reports.

Yesterday, the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicted a 60% chance of "go for launch" weather for tonight's SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.

"(A) dry cold front will likely arrive near or slightly after the launch window opens. With mostly clear skies, the only concern tomorrow night is a Liftoff Wind constraint violation," the forecast said.

SpaceX launch window opens at 11:01 p.m.

Update 9:28 p.m. EST: An hour and a half before tonight's Starlink 6-34 launch window opens, SpaceX still has not publicly announced a target liftoff time.

"Expected T-0 may vary," Space Launch Delta 45 officials said in an 8 p.m. tweet.

For the latest launch schedule updates at the Cape, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Updates: SpaceX Starlink launch Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida