Another 23 Starlink satellites are set to be sent to orbit aboard a Falcon 9 this evening from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 09:49 PM EDT and extends until 01:17 AM EDT Friday.
If tonight’s planned liftoff does not happen, according to SpaceX, “If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Friday, May 3, starting at 9:03 p.m. ET.”
Around eight and half minutes after liftoff, the first stage is planned to touch down on one of SpaceX’s three automated barges, this time ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, which will be positioned downrange to await the returning booster.
Payload
23 Starlink Mini V2 satellites, to be used in SpaceX’s orbital-based Internet service.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk states that each Starlink Mini V2 satellite has 165 Terabits/second capacity. Every addition to the Starlink constellation in low-Earth orbit adds significant bandwidth and capability to the overall Starlink network.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron forecasts a 15% chance of creating a Range Violation Thursday, meaning an 85% chance of acceptable conditions. On Friday, conditions remain essentially the same: 85% “Go”, with a 15%” Probability of Violation.
In their forecast discussion, the 45th says, “Today, thunderstorm activity is present over the Gulf Stream, and a sea breeze is developing over the Treasure Coast with showers beginning to form. The East and West Coast Sea Breezes are expected to collide over west-central Florida this evening, causing potential for lightning and anvil development into tonight. Overall conditions look very similar for tomorrow.”
That sounds a whole lot like summer, and looking at the calendar and seeing that it is already May, it seems the typical summer conditions for Space Coast launches are arriving right on schedule.
Sky Cover
The National Weather Service is calling for cloud cover of about 20-25% tonight at the opening of the launch window.
Trajectory
Falcon 9 will take a southeasterly direction tonight, as is customary for Group 6 Starlink missions.The flight is immediately offshore, with no return to the launch site. There will be no sonic boom from the launch this evening on the Space Coast.
Booster: B1067
According to SpaceX, tonight’s booster previously launched “CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, SES 03b mPOWER, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, and nine Starlink missions.” and will be on its nineteenth mission overall. That’s Booster B1067.
B1067 went into service nearly three years ago when it launched CRS-22 for NASA/Space ISS resupply on June 21, 2024. It last launched 32 days ago when it carried Starlink 6-45 off the launch pad and towards orbit.
| Booster 1067 | ||
| Flight Number | Mission | Date |
| 1 | CRS-22 | June 21, 2021 |
| 2 | NASA Crew-3 | November 11, 2021 |
| 3 | Türksat 5B | December 19, 2021 |
| 4 | NASA Crew-4 | April 27, 2022 |
| 5 | CRS-25 | July 14, 2022 |
| 6 | Starlink 4-34 | September 19, 2022 |
| 7 | Hotbird 13G | November 3, 2022 |
| 8 | O3b mPOWER 1 & 2 | December 16, 2022 |
| 9 | Starlink 5-2 | January 26, 2023 |
| 10 | Starlink 5-5 | March 24, 2023 |
| 11 | Starlink 5-9 | May 14, 2023 |
| 12 | Satria-1 | June 18, 2023 |
| 13 | Starlink 6-10 | August 17, 2023 |
| 14 | Starlink 6-22 | October 13, 2023 |
| 15 | Starlink 6-29 | November 22, 2023 |
| 16 | Starlink 6-35 | January 7, 2024 |
| 17 | HTS 113BT | February 20, 2024 |
| 18 | Starlink 6-45 | March 31, 2024 |
Landing
Per SpaceX, “Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.”
After touching down on ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ the booster will be returned to Port Canaveral after a few days. There, it will be offloaded and transported to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center, where it will be inspected, refurbished, and possibly prepared for another flight.
Interesting Stats
- 46th SpaceX launch this year, or one every 2.65 days
- 357th SpaceX launch all time
- 21st launch from SLC-40 this year
- 4 days, 3:41:00 turnaround for this pad
- 258th consecutive successful Falcon 9 launch (excluding Amos-6) (if successful)
- 303rd Falcon family booster landing
- 67th landing on ASOG
Watching Online
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Starlink 6-55. This will also be available on the X platform.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
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: 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 Riverfront Park (among others) are your best bets.
Be prepared for potential changes or pushbacks in the launch schedule, and keep up by monitoring the live stream links mentioned above.
Note: story originally published by the author at Talk of Titusville and it is shared here with permission
