The addition of these latest satellites will boost the growing constellation to nearly 5,900. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:08 p.m. EDT (2208 UTC).
The mission marked the first time that an American-made rocket launched Europe’s answer to the GPS satellite constellation. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 8:34 p.m. EDT (0034 UTC) on Saturday, April 27.
In this week’s edition of News from the Press Site, Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Tariq Malik, editor-in-chief of Space.com, and Passant Rabie, space reporter for Gizmodo.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the Cape in T-38 jets, the first such arrival since the space shuttle era. The mission is aiming to launch on Monday, May 6, at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC).
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will test materials and a deployable system for a solar sail-style propulsion system. Liftoff from New Zealand happened at 10:32 a.m. NZT on April 24 (6:32 p.m. EDT, 2232 UTC on April 23).
Joining the video podcast on Friday, April 19, in this episode were Marina Koren, staff writer for The Atlantic, and Jack Kuhr, research editor for Payload Space.
The mission comes a day after launching 23 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-52 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:40 p.m. EDT (2240 UTC).
With this launch, SpaceX is now one flight shy of tying the total number of Space Shuttle missions from this historic launch pad. This was the 81st flight of a Falcon rocket compared to the 82 total shuttle flights. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-51 mission happened at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 UTC).
The rollout operation on Tuesday followed a day of evaluations using Boeing’s weight and center-of-gravity machine to determine the final measurements on the spacecraft. Launch is still targeting May 6 at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC).