EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to reflect new launch attempt May 23.
Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Thursday during a 90-minute opening at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT Friday) from the Complex 40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Falcon 9 will head northeast from Cape Canaveral over the Atlantic Ocean to place the 60 Starlink satellites into a circular orbit around 273 miles (440 kilometers) above Earth.
The Falcon 9’s first stage will target a landing on SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean nearly 400 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.
The first stage booster launching tonight previous flew on two missions — the Telstar 18 VANTAGE launch from Florida in September 2018 and SpaceX’s eighth mission for Iridium from California in January.
Data source: SpaceX
T-0:00:00: Liftoff
After the rocket’s nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.
T+0:01:13: Max Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure, a few seconds after surpassing the speed of sound.
T+0:02:31: MECO
The Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.
T+0:02:34: Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9’s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.
T+0:02:41: Stage 2 Ignition
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately 6-minute burn to inject the Starlink satellites into a parking orbit.
T+0:03:33: Fairing Jettison
The 5.2-meter (17.1-foot) diameter payload fairing jettisons once the Falcon 9 rocket ascends through the dense lower atmosphere. The 43-foot-tall fairing is made of two clamshell-like halves composed of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core.
T+0:06:43: Stage 1 Entry Burn Complete
A subset of the first stage’s Merlin 1D engines completes an entry burn to slow down for landing. A final landing burn will occur just before touchdown on SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” around 385 miles (620 kilometers) northeast of Cape Canaveral.
T+0:08:17: Stage 1 Landing
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster touches down on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
T+0:08:46: SECO 1
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine turns off after placing the Starlink satellites in a temporary parking orbit, beginning a 37-minute coast in space.
T+0:46:11: Stage 2 Restart
The Falcon 9’s second stage engine ignites again for a 3-second burn to circularize its orbit.
T+0:46:14: SECO 2
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after reaching a target orbit about 273 miles (440 kilometers) high with an inclination of approximately 53 degrees.
T+1:02:14: Begin Starlink Deployments
The 60 flat-panel Starlink satellites, each with a mass of about 500 pounds (227 kilograms) begin deploying from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage.
Moving closer toward launch Monday with a South Korean communications satellite, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin main engines Thursday on a launch pad in Florida in a key preflight readiness test.
Turkey’s newest communications satellite soared into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday, and these spectacular images show the middle-of-the-night liftoff of the spacecraft’s Russian Proton rocket booster before it disappeared into low clouds.
