Space Coast

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.

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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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SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off with the Starlink 6-37 mission aboard. It’s destination is low-Earth orbit where 23 satellites will be placed in the Starlink constellation.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

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.

Liftoff was shortly after 8:52 pm EST from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Tonight’s re-useable booster was B1071 making its 12th flight. Roughly eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1071 touched down safely near the Bahamas on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The second stage continued to carry the company’s payload to orbit, which it achieved successfully at about the same time the first stage booster was touching down. Shortly afterward, the Starlink satellites were deployed and the launch was deemed a success by mission managers.

Clouds cleared sufficiently that many in the Space Coast had a spectacular view of Falcon 9 as it ascended from Cape Canaveral. This was the view from an Orlando neighborhood.
Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now

Mission Trajectory

Tonight’s launch was to the southeast, as has been customary with other launches of the Group 6 batch of Starlink satellites.

Mission trajectory for Starlink 6-37. Graphic via flightclub.io and annotated by Charles Boyer.
Mission trajectory for Starlink 6-37.
Graphic via flightclub.io and annotated by Charles Boyer.

16th Flight for Booster B-1076

This was the 12th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission is B1071. The booster previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1, Hispasat Amazonas Nexus mission, CRS-27, and seven Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Bahamas.

The booster will be returned to Port Canaveral and then transferred to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspection and ostensibly refurbishment for another flight on a future mission.

Next Launch

Axiom-3, a crewed launch planned to ferry four astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9.

Axiom-3 Flight Patch
Image courtesy: Axiom Space

The mission will be the first to carry and all-European crew to the International Space Station. It will be the third crewed mission to the International Space Station coordinated by Axiom Space.

Ax-3 will be the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS. It will also be the first commercial spaceflight mission made up of government and European Space Agency-sponsored astronauts flying on behalf of their nation.

The launch date is NET Wednesday January 17, 2024 at 5:11 PM EST from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.

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