Update Dec. 16, 7:50 p.m. EST (0050 UTC): SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.
SpaceX is set for a midweek launch of a batch of its Starlink V2 Mini satellites shortly after sunrise on Wednesday.
The Starlink 6-99 mission will add 29 more broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit constellation. According to astronomer and expert orbital tracker, there are currently more than 9,300 Starlink satellites in orbit.
Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 8:42 a.m. EST (1342 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 95 percent chance for favorable odds of good weather at liftoff. Meteorologists said the booster recovery weather may not be ideal for a landing though.
“High pressure over the southeastern states will persist before the next cold front is expected to pass through by Friday,” launch weather officers wrote. “No change to the primary launch window forecast, with low chances of Cumulus Cloud Rule violation associated with isolated onshore-moving low-topped coastal showers.
SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number, 1094. This will be its sixth flight after launching missions like Crew-11, Ax-4 and Cygnus NG-23.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1094 is set to perform an autonomous landing on the drone ship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of The Bahamas. If successful, this will be the 146th landing on this vessel and the 552nd booster landing for SpaceX to date.
Be the first to comment