SpaceX is planning for an overnight launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to continue bolstering its Starlink satellite constellation in low Earth orbit.
The Thursday morning flight will add another 28 V2 Mini satellites to the network of 8,600 currently on orbit, according to astronomer and expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell. Of the more than 125 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, 91 have flown in support of SpaceX’s constellation.
The company is planned to launch the Starlink 10-52 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:01 a.m. EDT (0701 UTC). Assuming weather doesn’t once again halt a mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA) in California for a second day, this will be SpaceX’s 130th Falcon 9 launch of the year.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a quite favorable outlook for SpaceX’s launch window in the predawn hours of Thursday. Meteorologists predict a 95 percent chance for good weather conditions, with just a scant chance for interference from cumulus clouds.
However, weather in the planned landing zone for the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1095, is listed as a “moderate” risk on a scale of low-moderate-high. A similar outlook was given during the launch forecast from the Kuiper Falcon 03 mission, which saw a successful launch and landing campaign.
This will be the third flight for B1095 after previously being used by SpaceX to launch a pair of Starlink missions earlier this year. The company will use its drone ship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ to recover the booster nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff.
If all goes well, this will be the 138th landing on this vessel and the 519th booster landing to date. That second stat is contingent upon SpaceX being able to launch the Tranche 1 Transport Layer C mission for the SDA Wednesday evening.
