Replace 5:34 p.m.: SpaceX pushed again the deliberate launch time of the Starlink 6-38 mission.
SpaceX is making ready for a busy week to shut out the month of January. Two Starlink flights are set to kick issues off as the corporate prepares to launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the Worldwide House Station for the primary time.
First as much as bat is the Starlink 6-38 mission, which can ship 23 extra satellites to low Earth orbit. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket supporting this mission is about for Sunday, Jan. 28, at 8:10 p.m. EST (0110 UTC).
Spaceflight Now could have stay protection starting roughly one hour earlier than liftoff.
SpaceX is asking upon Launch Complicated 39A at NASA’s Kennedy House Heart to launch this mission. Will probably be the 74th launch of a Falcon rocket from this pad (together with 9 Falcon Heavy rockets) and the 167th launch general.
The primary stage booster supporting this mission, tail quantity B1062, will likely be making its 18th flight, having final flown in late November. It beforehand supported two crewed launches, a pair of GPS satellites and 10 Starlink launches up to now.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1062 will land on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This would be the 58th booster touchdown on this vessel and the 267th general touchdown of a Falcon 9 first stage booster.
Assuming an profitable launch on Sunday, these would be the most present stats:
- 18th launch & touchdown of B1062
- 74th SpaceX launch from LC-39A
- 167th orbital launch from LC-39A
- 293rd Falcon 9 launch
- 58th touchdown on ASOG
- 267th Falcon 9 booster touchdown
- sixth orbital launch from Florida in 2024
- eighth SpaceX launch in 2024
- nineteenth orbital launch in 2024
Juggling act
Assuming a profitable launch of the Starlink 6-38 mission Sunday night, it will likely be adopted lower than 4 hours later by one other Falcon 9 flight: Starlink 7-12 from Vandenberg House Power Base.
That mission is focusing on liftoff at 6:16 p.m. PST (9:16 p.m. EST, 0216 UTC) from House Launch Complicated 4 East (SLC-4E). It can add 22 extra Starlinks to the constellation in LEO.
Whereas each missions are in move, SpaceX, NASA and Northrop Grumman are working by means of ultimate preparations for the NG-20 launch, the newest cargo resupply mission to the ISS.
This would be the first time SpaceX is launching a Cygnus spacecraft. It’s the primary of three such deliberate missions whereas Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace proceed engaged on a joint rocket, dubbed Antares 330.
That cargo flight is about to launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral House Power Station in Florida.
Amid all of this, SpaceX can be persevering with to assist the non-public astronaut mission, Ax-3, which is roughly midway by means of its two-week stint onboard the ISS. The 4 astronauts, led by Michael López-Alegría, are set to board their Dragon spacecraft and return to Earth subsequent weekend, climate allowing.
