Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
SpaceX plans to send another tranche of 23 Starlink satellites to orbit Monday evening from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 6:40 PM EDT and extends to 10:40 PM.
Weather may be a concern, especially in the first hours of the launch window according to the 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force in their official launch forecast.
Weather
The weather forecast is tricky, as evidenced by the 45th Weather Squadron’s forecast: “all [weather models] show a lingering low-level cloud deck that may be just deep enough to pose launch weather concerns. The main weather threat has shifted towards the northerly wind surge driven by the gradient around the departing low. Consensus is that winds will be highest at the beginning of the primary launch window Monday evening, with speeds slowly subsiding through the window.” So, basically, mission managers will be dealing with low clouds and high winds, especially in the early hours of the launch window, with improving conditions as the evening progresses.
Trajectory
Southeast. This is the well-trodden path of Group 6 Starlink satellites on their way to orbit, and tomorrow’s trajectory is no different.
Landing
Landing is planned to be on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) ‘Just Read The Instructions’ (JRTI) which is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Bahamas.After the landing, JRTI will return to Port Canaveral with the booster. It will then be returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility on Roberts Road inside Kennedy Space Center for inspection, refurbishment and preparation for its next mission.
Booster
SpaceX has not yet identified the booster that will be used for this mission. We will add this information as it becomes available.
Online Viewing
A live webcast of this mission will begin on SpaceX’s X account feed about five minutes prior to liftoff.
Watch live on X.
SpaceX’s official web page has links to live coverage as well as up-to-date planned launch times. Starlink 6-53 Mission Page.
Spaceflight Now will begin its live launch feed one hour prior to liftoff.
SFN on Youtube.
Watching In Person
This evening’s planned launch is from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, which means that the best direct views of liftoff are: the Banana River Bridge on FL-528 W near Port Canaveral or the southern parks on US-1 / S. Washington Avenue in Titusville. Kennedy Point Park and Rotary Riverview Park (among others) are your best bets for free viewing sites
Cocoa Beach, Cocoa Beach Pier, Jetty Park Pier will have indirect views, meaning that liftoff will not be visible, but after the rocket clears the pad and any ground obstructions, you will be able to see Falcon 9 ascending clearly assuming there are no clouds between you and the rocket. Jetty Park does charge admission and they do not accept cash — visit their website to purchase an entry pass before you go.
Given the weather forecast, launch spectators would be well advised to bring a windbreaker as well as some patience. SpaceX may well push back their target launch time more than once tomorrow, especially if conditions are slightly marginal and close to acceptable conditions for liftoff.
For in-depth info info on places to watch, click here.
This story was written by FMN’s Charles Boyer, and first appeared in Talk of Titusville .
