SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Northrup Grumman NG-20 mission towards ISS this afternoon. The launch was at 12:07 PM EST from the company’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and once it had completed its part of the mission, Booster 1077 completed its tenth flight when it safely touched down at Landing Zone 1, about 5.6 miles to the south of where it launched a little more than eight minutes earlier.
The US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron has released their Mission Execution Forecast for tomorrow’s planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying NG’s Cygnus cargo craft towards the International Space Station. They are predicting nearly ideal conditions, with only a 5% chance of a Probability of Violation, meaning they expect a 95% chance of acceptable weather conditions.
The NG-20 mission will launch from SpaceX’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch time is an instantaneous window 12:07 PM EST. If for some reason the launch is delayed, there is a backup launch opportunity available on Thursday, February 1 at 11:18 a.m. ET.
Falcon 9 will travel to the northeast, on a 51.2281˚inclination.
NG-20 is an RTLS mission, meaning the booster will return to Cape Canaveral 8.25 minutes after liftoff. As with all RTLS launches, a loud sonic boom will be heard across the Space Coast.
For unobstructed views of the liftoff and landing, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 (aka The Beachline, and sometimes erroneously called A1A) is your best bet.
Jetty Park offers a closer view of the returning booster and landing, but it has an occluded view of the launch.
Jetty Park is located at 100 Jetty Park Rd, Port Canaveral, FL 32920.
Playalinda Beach in the Cape Canaveral National Seashore will likely be open for this launch. It is quite far from the launch and landing, but you should still get some great views.
Parks along US1 In Titusville are further away from the action as well, but especially in the southern end of town, for example at Kennedy Point Park, good views are available.
Cocoa Beach also will have some good views of the rocket flight, but you are not going to see the liftoff and perhaps the landing burns. You will definitely feel the sonic boom, however!
SpaceX will send another batch of Starlink satellites to orbit this Sunday evening when it launches a Falcon 9 from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center to orbit on a mission designated as Starlink-6-38. After completing the initial boost of the payload, the booster used for this flight will touch down on the company’s automated automated spaceport drone-ship (ASDS) “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” The launch window opens at 6:15 PM EST and lasts until 9:55 EST.
The sun will set at 5:53 PM EST on Sunday, giving this launch the potential for a “jellyfish” over the skies after staging if it launches at or near the opening of the launch window at 6:15 PM.
The general weather forecast for the Space Coast on Sunday calls for rain showers early with some sunshine later in the day. Should skies clear in time over the launch corridor, a vivid view of staging may be visible.
This launch is from the north end of the Eastern Range, specifically from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. The best views of the launch for the general public will be from one of Titusville’s parks on US-1, or from the Max Brewer Bridge off of US-1 on SR 406.
Currently, Playalinda Beach is open from 6am – 6pm EST, and with the launch window being just outside those hours, it is unlikely that they will be open to visitors for the launch. Interested persons can call the Canaveral National Seashore offices at 386-428-3384 x0 for the latest information.
As is customary for Starlink Group 6 launches, a trajectory to the southeast is planned. The booster will touch down offshore in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Bahamas.
SpaceX has not announced which booster will be used for this flight as of yet (Friday, January 6, 2024). We will add that information here when it is made available.
SpaceX will begin live-streaming the launch on their X account about five minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now usually begins their live coverage about one hour prior to liftoff on their YouTube channel.
For those with the right equipment, launch updates and live coverage can be found on the following frequencies via the N1KSC 70cm repeater
444.925 MHz Rx (standard +5 MHz Tx offset)
Analog FM 131.8 tone (in/out) / Digital P25 NAC:A55
Minutes before a warm front brought heavy showers to Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX launched Crew Dragon aboard a Falcon 9 for Axiom Space on a chartered flight to the International Space Station at 4:49 PM EST this evening. The all-European crew is expected to dock at ISS in two days time, and stay aboard the station until February 3, 2024.
SpaceX sent another batch of 23 Starlink satellites for their orbital-based Internet service tonight from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 booster. The mission was designated Starlink 6-37, part of Group 6 of Starlink satellites providing global Internet connectivity to the company’s customers.
SpaceX called off its launch attempt of Falcon 9 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early this evening, around 7:18pm. The company did not share a reason for their decision, but it made the call early, with about ninety minutes left on the countdown clock.
Later on, SpaceX announced that announced on their website that they are now
“SpaceX is targeting Sunday, January 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 7:27 p.m. ET with backup opportunities available until 11:25 p.m. ET.”
SpaceX Starlink 6-37 information page. Note: dates and times may be changed on the SpaceX website without notice. Click the link for currently up-to-date information.
The 45th Weather Squadron’s forecast looks good tomorrow, with conditions deteriorating if there is another 24 hour delay.
As always, launch times are fluid and can change quickly.
SpaceX plans to launch another batch of Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 to its LEO Internet service constellation on Saturday, January 13, 2024. The launch window opens at 7:52 PM EST and closes early Sunday at 12:23 AM. The launch will be from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Weather is a slight concern for the launch as a warm front pushes storms through the area today.
Southeast, as has been customary for Starlink’s Group 6 launches.
One day before launch, the 45th Space Wing forecasts a 70% chance of acceptable weather, with a 30% Probability of Violation that would force a scrub.
As always, it bears keeping in mind that a rocket launch can be scrubbed (canceled) up to and including the final minute of the countdown. Those scrubs may result from weather violations, intrusion into the excluded areas beneath the planned flight path or technical issues that arise during the countdown. Stay tuned to launch coverage for up-to-date information.
SpaceX will begin live-streaming the launch on their X account about five minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now usually begins their live coverage about one hour prior to liftoff on their YouTube channel.
When Space Force and NASA officials said that 2024 was likely to be the busiest year in the history of the Eastern Range, they weren’t kidding. SpaceX announced today that they are planning to launch Falcon 9 tomorrow afternoon on the Starlink 6-35 mission from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — the pad immediately adjacent to Pad SLC-41, where United Launch Alliance plans to launch the maiden voyage of Vulcan. SpaceX’s window opens at 4pm EST, while Vulcan is slated for 2:18am — ten hours and eighteen minutes later.
Less than three hours after SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy lifted off tonight at Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A, the company launched a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 carrying the Starlink 6-36 mission. Falcon Heavy lifted off at 8:07pm local time, and two hours and forty-eight minutes later, Falcon 9 roared off its pad at 11:01pm. Roughly eight and one-half minutes later, the booster used for this flight successfully touched down aboard the droneship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ near the Bahamas, marking SpaceX’s third successful booster soft-landing of the night.
After eight days of bad weather cleared from Space Coast skies, SpaceX got right back to work and sent a Falcon 9 to orbit from Pad SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Monday evening. Tonight’s payload was another 33 Starlink satellites with the mission designation Starlink 6-34.
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