SpaceX targeting Wednesday night for Cape Canaveral's 17th launch of the year thus far
SpaceX is targeting Wednesday night for another Falcon 9 rocket launch carrying a payload of Starlink satellites, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigation warning indicates.
The 4½-hour launch window will extend from 7:29 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Starlink 6-44 mission will lift off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Mission: The Falcon 9 will deploy a payload of Starlink internet satellites. To date, SpaceX's growing high-speed broadband constellation has accumulated more than 2.6 million customers.
"Since the beginning of the year, teams have deployed and tested 193 different satellite software builds, 75 gateway software builds, 222 Starlink software builds, and 57 WiFi software builds," SpaceX officials said in a report tweeted Friday by the company.
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No local sonic booms are expected following Wednesday's launch. Rather, after soaring skyward along a southeasterly trajectory, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster will target landing aboard a drone ship out at sea 8½ minutes after liftoff.
Check for live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team launch coverage updates starting about 90 minutes before the launch window opens.
Wednesday's scheduled launch will follow the heels of Sunday night's photogenic liftoff of a similar SpaceX Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
That Sunday launch was the 16th so far during 2024 from the Space Coast. Last year's tally of 72 orbital launches shattered the Cape's all-time annual record.
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For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
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
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX targeting Wednesday night for Cape's 17th launch of the year