SpaceX plans to launch 24 of its Starlink web satellites from Florida in the present day (Feb. 24), on the corporate’s 18th mission of 2024 already.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to elevate off from Cape Canaveral Area Power Station in Florida in the present day throughout a four-hour window that opens at 4:59 p.m. EST (2159 GMT).
You possibly can watch the motion dwell by way of SpaceX’s X account. Protection will start about 5 minutes earlier than the window opens.
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The Falcon 9’s first stage will come again to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff in the present day, if all goes in keeping with plan. It would make a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which can be stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.
It is going to be the thirteenth launch and touchdown for this explicit booster, in keeping with a SpaceX mission description. Eight of its 12 flights thus far have been Starlink missions.
The rocket’s higher stage, in the meantime, will proceed powering its means towards low Earth orbit, ultimately deploying the satellites there about 65 minutes after launch.
At present’s launch would be the 18th of the 12 months for SpaceX. And lots of extra will comply with over the approaching weeks and months: The corporate goals to launch 144 orbital missions in 2024.
SpaceX’s most up-to-date two launches have been milestone missions. On Tuesday (Feb. 20), the corporate lofted an Indonesian telecom satellite tv for pc known as Merah Putih 2 on the three hundredth profitable Falcon 9 liftoff thus far.
And a Starlink launch on Thursday (Feb. 22) was the nineteenth flight for that Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, tying SpaceX’s rocket reuse document.
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