Space Coast

Starship’s second test flight lifts off in Texas in 2023.
Photo: SpaceX

The Department of the Air Force (along with cooperating agencies the FAA, NASA, and the U.S. Coast Guard) is undertaking environmental impact studies for launch pads for SpaceX’s heavy-lift Starship rocket according to a a recent public release from them. They are also eliciting public comments, with four meetings scheduled for March 2024.

Contents

For your convenience, here is a list of sections to this lengthy article. Click an option to jump to the part you are interested in. To return to the top, click the Back button in your browser.

NOTE: This Environmental Impact Statement is for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and is not the EIS for the proposed usage of SLC-39A. For more information on that, click here: Notice of Environmental Impact Statement for Starship Launches From KSC’s LC-39A Filed.

Information Website Published 16 FEB 2024

The DAF has placed a new website online for information regarding a new Environmental Impact Statement for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at https://spaceforcestarshipeis.com/. On it, they say

“The need for the Action is to ensure DAF Assured Access to Space without compromising current launch capabilities and fulfill (in part) the U.S. Congress’s grant of authority to the Secretary of Defense, pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section 2276(a), “Commercial space launch cooperation,” that the Secretary of Defense is permitted to take action to:”

  • “Maximize the use of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) space transportation infrastructure by the private sector in the U.S.
  • “Maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the space transportation infrastructure of the DOD.
  • “Reduce the cost of services provided by the DOD related to space transportation infrastructure at launch support facilities and space recovery support facilities.
  • “Encourage commercial space activities by enabling investment by covered entities in the space transportation infrastructure of the DOD.
  • “Foster cooperation between the DOD and covered entities.”
Department of the Air Force, Retrieved February 16, 2024

Starship At a Glance

Currently under development near Brownville, Texas, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. According to SpaceX, it will be fully reusable, and capable of lifting 150 tons of payload to orbit in a reusable configuration, and 250 tons when it is configured as a conventional expendable rocket.

Current Starship designs are 397 feet tall, and 29.5 feet in diameter, producing some 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

By comparison, the Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo Program were 362 feet tall, and produced 7.6 million pounds of thrust. By any measure, Starship is a huge rocket with immense power, and its launches and returns will be heard across the Space Coast.

Similar to how SpaceX Falcon 9 completes in many of its launches today, the Starship booster would return to land at its launch site when its task for the mission has been completed. Unlike Falcon 9, which lands at a landing area close by, Starship would return to its pad, where it would be grappled by “chopsticks” as it completed its final approach.

Starship is planned to be a fully reusable vehicle, meaning that its second stage (often simply called “the ship” in SpaceX parlance) would reenter and return to land at its launch pad using the same chopsticks as the booster.

Starship is still somewhat early in its development, with two test launches so far, and a third on the plate for the next few weeks. Along with SLS, it is a vehicle integral to Project Artemis, this time in the role of being the Human Landing System. HLS is where astronauts will land, live and work on the lunar surface, with the forward plan being for extended stays.

Starship’s Propellants: Are They Toxic?

Unlike other rockets in the past that use highly toxic propellants, Starship relies on commonly found materials. The two propellants the power Starship’s Raptor engines are liquid oxygen and liquid methane. Methane is also known as “natural gas” and is used in many homes as stoves, heating systems and even some pool heaters here locally.

Methane combustion produces carbon dioxide and water as its byproducts. Starship utilizes a highly pure form of methane and oxygen, meaning that it does not have many other byproducts in its exhaust.

By comparison, rockets that use RP-1 as their fuel (Falcon 9, Saturn V, Atlas-V and many others) have carbon dioxide, water vapor, soot, sulfur containing compounds and small amounts of nitrogen oxide. All things considered, methane is a far cleaner fuel than RP-1.

Starship does not rely on solid rocket boosters (SLS, Atlas-V, Vulcan, Space Shuttle) SRBs typically emit aluminum oxide, soot, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chlorides, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen and other trace gases.

What About The Starship Tower at LC-39A?

The Starship tower under construction at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center prior to Crew-7 launching from the adjacent Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch mount.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX began construction of a Starship launch mount adjacent to its Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch pad at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center a couple of years, but it appears that construction has been halted for the time being while the company perfects and finalizes their Starship design and along with it, the launch mount itself.

The proposed action by DAF for the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station does not address that launch mount or its future. There is a separate Environmental Impact Statement for that launch pad and Starship. That EIS is being conducted by the FAA as the lead agency, while for this one, the Department of the Air Force is the lead agency. Both EIS efforts have major stakeholders as part of the EIS team.

See also: NASA: No Activities Underway To Build LC-49 At KSC

Three launch pads: on the left in the background, SpaceX is raising a launch tower for Starship. Center, Artemis-1 on its launch pad. Right, in the background, is where SpaceX launches its Falcon-class rockets, including astronauts into Earth orbit.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Proposed Launch Pads At CCSFS from Department of the Air Force

The US Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, much like the US Marines are to the US Navy, as such DAF is the lead agency where Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is involved. For Starship DAF has proposed the following:

  • SpaceX would modify and use SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS)
  • SpaceX and CCSFS would build a new pad, SLC-50, between the current SLC-37 and SLC-40
  • No action, where no Starship constructions or launch occurred from CCSFS

Option 1: SLC-37

SLC-37
Photo: Google Earth

Located nearly due east from NASA Parkway, SLC-37 currently is used by United Launch Alliance for Delta IV Heavy launches. That program has all but ended, with only one launch of the venerable heavy lifter remaining. That launch is scheduled for the March time frame when the company will loft the NROL-70 payload from the pad. After that, there are no Delta IV Heavy launches remaining.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-68 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 on June. 22, 2023 at 5:18 a.m. ET. 
Photo: United Launch Alliance

SLC-37 is one of the older launch complexes at the Eastern Range — Construction on it started in 1959 and was used by NASA to support the Saturn I program starting in 1963. It originally had two launch pads, 37A and 37B, though 37A was never used. Saturn I launched from it from 1964-65, and the site was modified for Saturn IB launches, the most notable of which was Apollo 5. After that, in 1972, LC-37 was mothballed until 2001 when ULA began using it for Delta launches.

The Saturn IB launch vehicle (SA204) for the Apollo 5 mission lifted off on January 22, 1968. The unmarned Apollo 5 mission verified the ascent and descent stage propulsion systems, including restart and throttle operations of the Lunar Module.
Photo: NASA

Given that SLC-37 has hosted launches for around sixty years, it presumably would have the least environmental impact of the two options the Space Force listed. Undoubtedly, that would have to studied and verified before SpaceX could begin construction at the facility.

Option 2: SLC-50

Slightly north of SLC-37 is another potential location for a new pad, according to the Space Force release.

Approximation of the proposed alternative area for an SLC-50
Photo: Google Earth

This is currently an undeveloped area of the facility, and conversion and construction of a new launch pad would require environmental impact studies to be completed prior to any construction there.

Option 3: No Construction

This is what it sounds like, no Starship launch pad would be built at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Given that NASA has stated that no new LC-49 pad studies or activities are underway from the Kennedy Space Center side of the Eastern Range, that leaves either the LC-39A launch mount being completed for Starship or Starship not launching from the Eastern Range at all.

The latter option — no launch pad, no Starship — would be problematic for both SpaceX and for NASA, who is relying on Starship for the Artemis program and its lunar lander. It is possible that SpaceX and NASA could reach agreement to complete the Starship Launch Mount at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, but that comes with its own issues.

Project Flight Paths

Many people may be wondering just where Starship would fly. The simple answer appears to be that it would be able to take the typical range of trajectories as other rockets that have flown or are flying from the Eastern Range today.

Notably, however, “polar” (North-South orbits) trajectories such as the ones SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has taken from to time from SLC-40 were not mentioned and we presume not in the current plans for Starship.

It is also worth noting that like Falcon 9, Starship and its boosters will return to the Cape to land, be refurbished and reused. That will bring sonic booms, just like the old Space Shuttle landings and today’s Falcon 9 RTLS missions such as Crew-8 on March 3, 2024.

From the DAF-supplied information packet:

Starship would fly from 40º – 115º from its launch mount, which is a typical range of azimuths for Eastern Range Rockets

Why Not Stay In Texas?

SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas at Boca Chica has a limited acceptable set of trajectories available to it — Florida is to the East, Texas and the Gulf states are to the north, and Cuba and other land masses are to the south.

Two paths from Boca Chica would would avoid overflight of most far downrange landmasses, though they may also require performance reducing “dogleg” maneuvers to avoid other landmasses and achieve proper orbit. The red areas show previous Falcon 9 drop zones. Cape Canaveral can accommodate a much more diverse set of launch inclinations without overflying populated areas.

* Challenges For A South Texas Spaceport.pdf – Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

For test launches, Starship plans to thread a launch path over the Gulf of Mexico and then to orbit. From the Eastern Range, a much wider set of trajectories are available due to the Atlantic Ocean being mostly devoid of people or property over a much wider area.

All things considered, Starship operations from the Eastern Range and the Cape is a preferable destination for SpaceX and for NASA.

Potential Economic Impact For The Space Coast?

Starship launches from the Eastern Range could easily bring billions of dollars in economic activity to the Space Coast region: SpaceX launch support jobs at the Cape, along with the associated jobs that are created to support the families of those workers, and of course tourism.

As a major Starship launch port, the Space Coast would cement itself now and in the future as the starting point for space launches of all types. The area has seen boom and bust in its history, and having the most dominant commercial space company in the world using Cape Canaveral Space Force station as its main operational site would all but ensure a prosperous future for the area.

Local Public Hearings Scheduled

The public has been invited to have their say about the proposed alternatives:

Online Public Hearing

There is also an online meeting for those that cannot attend in person:

Talk of Titusville strongly encourages interested members of the public to participate in these meetings. As the leading company for launch services in the world, much of the Space Coast’s economic future rests on this decision.

Next Steps

February 16, 2024

After making the announcement and holding public hearings in March, the EIS will then conduct studies and prepare a draft release of the EIS in Winter 2024. Being that there is only one winter month in December, that indicates that the draft EIS is due that month. That is not set in stone, however, so stay tuned for an announcement of specially when that date may be.

Read more

Timelapse of the flight path of Falcon 9 carrying NASA CLPS / Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar lander to orbit on February 15, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

A rarity is becoming commonplace lately here on the Space Coast, as SpaceX successfully launched two Falcon 9 rockets within eight hours of each other from the Eastern Range, returning both safely to the ground at the company’s Cape Canaveral landing zones.

First up was USSF-124, carrying a military payload for the US Space Force, and the second was Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 NASA CLPS mission to the moon.

USSF-124 launches aboard Falcon 9 on February 14, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

NASA CLPS / Intuitive Machines IM-1

At 1:05 AM EST, SpaceX launched NASA CLPS payload to orbit from launch pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center l aboard a Falcon 9. Approximately eight and one-half minutes later, the first stage touched down safely at Landing Zone 1 at CCSFS, approximately 8.8 miles from where it had launched minutes earlier.

 After safely reaching orbit, the Intuitive Machines ‘Odysseus’ lander deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage, completing SpaceX’s part of the mission. Shortly afterward, IM confirmed Odysseus had contacted the company’s mission operations center in Houston and that the spacecraft was stable and receiving solar power.

NASA Administrator Statement

Odysseus will make a nine-day journey to the Moon, after which is will attempt to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. In a press release on February 15, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon – a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century,”

He added, “These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.”

As part of Project Artemis, in May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines to build and fly Odysseus and IM-1. The spacecraft will “Demonstrate autonomous navigation,” according to a press release from NASA.

Odysseus’s Destination

The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the in the Descartes Highlands.

The Malapert and Shackleton regions on the lunar surface as captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Photo: NASA

Experiments Aboard Odysseus

NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons can also be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and guide landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”

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IM-1 Nova-C Completed Assembly
Photo: Intuitive Machines

At roughly 11:00 PM EST Wednesday evening, some two hours before the planned liftoff, the countdown was halted on SpaceX’s planned Falcon 9 launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Mission to carry their Nova-C lander ‘Odysseus’ to orbit and on its way to the Moon. Launch had been planned for 12:57 AM EST on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

In a post on the X platform, SpaceX stated that the reason for the delay was “due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load.” Presumably that methane load was for the Nova-C lander, as Falcon 9 relies on RP-1 and liquid oxygen as its propellants and does not use methane in its operations.

SpaceX added that the next available opportunity for this launch is Thursday, February 15th at 1:05 AM EST.

Standing down from tonight’s attempt due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load. Now targeting Thursday, February 15 at 1:05 a.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of the @Int_Machines IM-1 mission from Florida.

SpaceX, February 13, 2024, 11:35 PM EST

NASA CLPS Second Mission

The launch will be the second for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program. The first was Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander which flew on the maiden launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket — it was launched successfully, but experienced propulsion system issues and was not able to attempt a landing. It instead re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and burned up after completing as many experiments as possible during its ill-fated journey.

NASA, Intuitive Machines will of course be hoping for a different outcome on this mission.

More About IM-1

Read Talk of Titusville’s IM-1 preview here: Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Lunar Lander Set For Launch.

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IM-1, the first NASA Commercial Launch Program Services launch for Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander, will carry multiple payloads to the Moon, including Lunar Node-1, demonstrating autonomous navigation via radio beacon to support precise geolocation and navigation among lunar orbiters, landers, and surface personnel. NASA’s CLPS initiative oversees industry development of small robotic landers and rovers to support NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Photo: NASA / Intuitive Machines

Shortly after midnight this Wednesday, the next NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) lunar lander is set to begin its trip to the moon’s surface aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Launch time is scheduled for 12:57 AM EST, from Pad LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The lander was built by Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company, and is named “Odysseus.” The mission designation is IM-1. Assuming a successful flight to orbit and post-launch vehicle checkouts, IM-1 will undertake a nine-day trip to the moon, where it will then attempt to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.

As part of Project Artemis, in May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines to build and fly Odysseus and IM-1. The spacecraft will “Demonstrate autonomous navigation,” according to a press release from NASA.

Malapert massif (informal name) is thought to be a remnant of the South Pole – Aitken basin rim, which formed more than 4 billion years ago.  More recently, this magnificent peak (lower left) was selected as an Artemis 3 candidate landing region. Image is 25 kilometers wide in the center, Narrow Angle Camera M1432398306LR
Photo: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the in the Descartes Highlands.

Experiments Aboard

NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons also can be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and with guiding landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”

Odysseus will then have seven days to complete experiments on the lunar surface before the lunar night sets on the south pole of the Moon, rendering the spacecraft inoperable.

Utility of Lunar Node-1

“Imagine getting verification from a lighthouse on the shore you’re approaching, rather than waiting on word from the home port you left days earlier,” said Evan Anzalone, principal investigator of LN-1 and a navigation systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “What we seek to deliver is a lunar network of lighthouses, offering sustainable, localized navigation assets that enable lunar craft and ground crews to quickly and accurately confirm their position instead of relying on Earth.”

Intuitive Machines Leadership

Intuitive Machines was founded by CEO Steve Altemus in 2013, along with CTO Tim Crain, Stephen Altemus, and Kam Ghaffarian (a cofounder of Axiom Space) and is a publicly traded company.

Altemus is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and holds an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Central Florida. He is also a former Shuttle program employee working in operations, launch, and landing activities prior to leaving to Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston where he served as a Deputy Director of Engineering.

Ghaffarian holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering, an M.Sc. in Information Management, and a PhD in Management Information Systems. He has worked for Lockheed Martin on various NASA contracts, Loral Space, and as an entrepreneur, Ghaffarian co-founded Axiom Space, IBX, X-energy, and Quantum Space in addition to Intuitive Machines. He is also a philanthropist promoting STEM education.

Crain holds a Bachelor’s, M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace engineering, and like Altemus is a NASA employee where he worked as an aerospace engineer, a strategic advisor and as the Guidance, Navigation and Control Lead for the Morpheus Vertical Test Bed, a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

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SpaceX and NASA plan to launch the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite at 1:33 AM EST Thursday from the company’s launch facility at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. Booster 1071 will return to the Cape and land about 5.6 miles away at Landing Zone 1 a little more than seven minutes after liftoff (T-plus 00:07:32.)

The launch has been delayed twice this week due to high winds created by an intense low-pressure system off the Florida coast in the Atlantic but it is now moving away, and winds have been steadily calming throughout the day. The 45th Weather Squadron’s Mission Execution Forecast calls for a 95% chance of acceptable conditions this morning.

A Sonic Boom Will Be Heard In The Space Coast Area

A sonic boom will accompany the landing and spread out through the Space Coast at roughly 1:41 AM EST. Remember that sound travels one mile in five seconds at sea level, so the specific time the sonic boom will arrive at your location will be relative to your distance from LZ-1.

PACE is a NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will perform advanced observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols, and clouds. That data is key to identifying the scope of climate changes in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The launch trajectory is roughly due south, so areas in southern Brevard County may hear louder than normal launch rumble, and it may last longer as the flying booster passes by.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA+ and NASA Television about 45 minutes before liftoff.

Axiom-3 Landing Planned for Friday Near Daytona Beach

The Axiom-3 crew aboard the International Space Station
Photo: Axiom Space

The return of the Axiom-3 crew has also been affected by windy conditions; SpaceX and Axiom Space have announced that the splashdown of the Dragon capsule should be around 7:25 AM Friday. AX-3 astronauts Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı, and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt departed ISS at 9:20 AM EST today.

“We hope you had a wonderful time on station, and we’re looking forward to seeing your smiling faces,” SpaceX ground control told the astronauts as the departed ISS.

On Wednesday, February 7 at 9:20 a.m. ET, Dragon autonomously undocked from the International Space Station. After performing a series of burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison its trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately two days later on Friday, February 9.

SpaceX, retrieved 2/7/2024 1:00 PM EST

Splashdown is currently planned for near Daytona Beach. That is subject to change, however, as wave height, wind and rain in the landing area must meet NASA and SpaceX’s criteria for the safe return and retrieval of the Dragon spacecraft.

Locally, it’s somewhat unlikely that most people in Brevard County will hear the sonic boom that heralds a returning spacecraft to Earth. Residents can see Crew Dragon streaking across the sky as it re-enters by looking northwards, relatively low to the horizon.

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SpaceX and NASA are planning to launch a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 NET Tuesday morning at 1:33 AM EST. Weather may be a concern: the 45th Weather Squadron has yet to issue a Probability of Violation forecast, but the National Weather Service and other general forecast products are calling for a good chance of wind and rain at the planned launch time.

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory is inspected and processed on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023
Photo: NASA
NASA and SpaceX technicians safely encapsulate NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(click to view full size)
Photo: NASA

The payload for the mission is NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite. It is an Earth-observing instrument that will conduct observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols as well as as clouds.

According to NASA, “PACE’s data will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide. In addition, it will reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean. Novel uses of PACE data will benefit our economy and society. For example, it will help identify the extent and duration of harmful algal blooms. PACE will extend and expand NASA’s long-term observations of our living planet. By doing so, it will take Earth’s pulse in new ways for decades to come.”

Weather A Concern

Until the 45th Weather Squadron releases their official launch forecast, here’s the general weather forecast. Note that this forecast does not consider rocket launch weather criteria and should be used only for a very general look ahead:

Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Windy, with a north northwest wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Windy, with a north wind 25 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.

National Weather Service’s Cape Canaveral Forecast (02/03/PM 6:45 PM EST)

Trajectory

Trajectory will be south, with the final destination being a Sun-synchronous orbit.

Via Flightclub.io

Sonic Boom Advisory

This will be an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) mission. Space Coast residents can expect a sonic boom to spread through the area after 1:42 AM. Remember that sound travels about five miles per second, so the exact time for the sonic boom’s arrival is dependent on your location’s distance to LZ-1.

In an email to media, SpaceX released the following:

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 6 at 1:33 a.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Wednesday, February 7 at the same time.

About eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. There is the possibility that residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee County counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

SpaceX, February 5, 2024
SpaceX Falcon 9 with PACE aboard, February 5, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer

Booster

SpaceX will use Booster 1081 for this mission, which will be its fourth mission.

FlightDateMissionLaunch PadResult
126 August 2023Crew-7LC-39ASuccess
210 November 2023CRS-29LC-39ASuccess
319 December 2023Starlink 6-34SLC-40Success
4NET 6 February 2024NASA PACESLC-40TBD
Booster 1081 launch record as of 2/5/2024
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Timelapse of SpaceX/NASA Crew-6 Re-entry over Biolab Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2023. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX announced overnight that the expected return of the Axiom-3 astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon has been delayed.

SpaceX, Axiom Space, and NASA are targeting no earlier than Tuesday,

Dragon and the Ax-3 crew are now targeting no earlier than Tuesday, February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET to undock from the [International Space Station.] Teams continue to keep an eye on recovery weather conditions

SpaceX, February 4, 2024

The company also added more information on their website:

February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET for Dragon and the Ax-3 astronauts to depart from the International Space Station. After performing a series of burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison its trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately nine hours later the same day.

SpaceX, Ax-3 Mission, Retrieved February 4, 2024
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SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying Northrup Grumman NG-20 Cygnus launches from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral on January 30, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

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.

A previous Cygnus space craft in the grasp of ISS’s Canadarm2.
Photo: NASA

Today’s launch was the first of three that Northrup Grumman has contracted with SpaceX, and is the twentieth ISS resupply mission that the company has flown. According to NASA, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft is carrying 3,017 pounds of experiments, 2,493 pounds of hardware, 2,490 pounds of crew supplies, 149 pounds of computer resources and 35 pounds of spacewalk equipment.

SpaceX Performs Late-Load For First Time

Some of that cargo was loaded in the past 24 hours — foodstuffs (ice cream for the astronauts is rumored to be that portion of the payload) as well as some of the materials for science experiments required a “late-load,” which is a new capability for SpaceX that necessitated a one-delay from the initial planned launch date of January 29.

“We’re going to do a late-load activity into the Cygnus vehicle [so] we modified the fairing that’s the covering that goes on the outside of the Falcon rocket to include a 5-foot by 4-foot wide door. It essentially allows us to enter into the fairing area and put late-load car cargo in,” William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president ofBuild and Flight Reliability, said in a news conference on January 26th.

Booster B1077 descending towards its landing on Tuesday January 30, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Cygnus is expected to arrive at the International Space Station, where it will be docked to the orbiting facility’s Unity module by astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli.

Arrival At Space Station Will Be On Thursday

Now in orbit, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft will arrive at the International astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will grapple it using ISS’s Canadarm 2 robotic arm, and the crew will then dock Cygnus to the Unity module. Following some normal checkouts, later, astronauts will then open the hatch to Cygnus and will begin to unload the cargo within the spacecraft.

The Cygus spacecraft is expected to stay at the International Space Station for up to six months. The spacecraft may perform additional services such as reboosting the station’s orbit to counteract atmospheric drag. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus provides the only U.S. spacecraft reboost capability for the International Space Station.

More Photos

Liftoff As Seen Around The Space Coast

Click on the photo to see it full size on your device.

Falcon 9 in flight as it approaches the speed of sound. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media Now
Falcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
A vapor cone at the top of Falcon 9 caused by adiabatic cooling. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media Now
Liftoff of Falcon 9 as seen from the NASA Press Site. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
A “light-saber” timelapse of Falcon 9’s liftoff. Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now
Falcon 9 touching down at Landing Zone 1. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
Falcon 9 lifts off, as seen from the NASA Press Site. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Booster 1077 descending towards landing, as seen from NASA Press Site. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Falcon 9 lifts off. As seen from SLC-40, Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Falcon 9 lifts off. As seen from KARS Park. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
Booster 1077 descending in freefall. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
Booster 1077’s landing burn at LZ-1. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
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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 01/29/2024 forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron.
Courtesy US Space Force

Launch Time & Location

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.

Launch Trajectory

Falcon 9 will travel to the northeast, on a 51.2281˚inclination.

Sonic Boom Alert!

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.

Graphic: Wave pressure at a distance of 5 miles (8.05 km). Via Acoustical Society of America.

Launch Viewing

Banana River Bridge

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.

Basic Overview

Launch View

View from the Banana River Bridge.
Photo: Charles Boyer

Landing View

View of Booster Landing From Banana River Bridge
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Jetty Park

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.

Others

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!

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Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 at Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 17, 2024.
Photo by Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville.

With about six hours left in the countdown to liftoff, SpaceX announced that they are canceling today’s planned launch of Falcon 9 carrying four astronauts to orbit aboard a Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. The mission on behalf of Axiom Space is dubbed Axiom-3 and will now launch NET Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 4:47 PM EST.

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