Updated at 12:01 a.m. EDT:
SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. First stage booster B1060 landed back on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas after about eight and a half minutes of flight, becoming the first booster to fly for the 17th time.
Updated at 10:19 PM EDT:
SpaceX has adjusted the launch time of the Starlink 6-17 mission. The new T-0 takeoff time is now 23:38 EDT (0338 UTC). Another possible takeoff time would be September 20. 12:28 p.m. EDT (0428 UTC).
Original story:
On Tuesday night, SpaceX will push the limits of reusability as it plans to launch the Falcon 9 using a first-stage rocket on its 17th flight. Liftoff from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral with 22 satellites for the Starlink Internet Network is scheduled for 22:47 EDT (0247 UTC).
Booster serial number 1060 will make a record 17th flight for Starlink’s 6-17 mission. Earlier this year, SpaceX certified its fleet of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters for up to 20 flights.
Falcon 9 is ready for launch on Tuesday with 22 Starlink satellites. The first stage of the rocket will be the 17th flight. Image: Spaceflight Now. The booster flew for the first time in 2020. in June carrying the GPS 3-3 satellite for the US Space Force, and later flew the Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34 and Transporter-6 missions and 11 Starlink launches. flights
Space Force meteorologists are watching closely as an air front swings south of Florida’s Space Coast and a storm develops in the Atlantic Ocean. In their forecast released Monday, they predicted a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather. The main concern is the cloud cloud rule violation. As the coastal storm develops, conditions worsen if the launch slips through the day, with only a 30 percent chance of acceptable weather.
This will be the 20th launch of the so-called V2 mini Starlink satellites, which are larger and offer four times the bandwidth of previous versions. The full-sized V2 Starlink satellites are scheduled to be launched aboard SpaceX’s reusable Starship vehicle, but the delayed Starship debut has prompted the company to develop a shortened version of the satellites to be launched on the Falcon 9.
