Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

The Starlink 17-36 mission was SpaceX’s 51st Falcon 9 launch of 2026. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 7:42:49 pm PDT (10:42:49 pm EDT / 0242:49 UTC).

Space missions dispatched into the solar system often have journeys lasting years before reaching a scientific payoff, but NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched last weekend on a speedy departure from planet Earth is already getting ready to sweep closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history during a flyby later this year.

Weather conditions at the surface will likely be favorable for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, but upper level winds may pose a roadblock for the start of the company’s next space station resupply mission. SpaceX is targeting liftoff of the Falcon 9 from pad 40 at 12:51 p.m. EST (1751 GMT) Wednesday.