Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
SpaceX is planning to launch a Falcon 9 carrying a Turkish telecommunications satellite later Monday afternoon from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, weather permitting. The launch window opens at 05:20 PM EDT and extends over four hours to 09:43 PM EDT Monday.
The Launch At A Glance
- Mission: Turksat 6A
- Date: NET July 8, 2024
- Launch Window: 05:20 PM EDT – 09:43 PM EDT*
- Organization: SpaceX
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Payload: Communications satellite to geosynchronous orbit.
* consult SpaceX for the specific target for T-0.
Payload
Photo: Türksat
The payload for this mission is a domestically produced telecommunications satellite, Türksat 6A. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğle stated that the Türksat 6A communication satellite was produced with a local production rate of nearly 90 percent. In May, he said, “We produced our Türksat 6A satellite locally and nationally. While producing this, we assigned Türksat’s engineers to the construction of TÜRKSAT 3A, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B satellites, trained them and included them in the production programs.”
It will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit positioned at 42° East with an expected service lifetime of at least fifteen years once it reaches its operational location and is tested and commissioned.
Türksat 6A will service Türksat’s normal customer base as well as adding four new countries with the new Türksat 6A. “Currently, with our satellites, we cover Europe, the Middle East, the Turkish Republics and a part of the Far East,” Uraloğle said. “We are already selling this service to the geographies I mentioned. There will be additional income by selling this communication service and exporting services to the new 4 countries.” he said.
Via: Turkish Space Agency
Weather
According to the 45th Weather Squadron, chances are high for a weather violation on the launch range creating a delay. Their forecast calls for a 70% likelihood of a weather violation, leaving only a 30% chance of acceptable weather.
In their July 7th launch discussion, the 45th states, “For both Monday and Tuesday, [a frontal] ridge is expected to shift south of the spaceport, bringing weak southwesterly winds and coastal afternoon thunderstorms to the Cape. Some of these storms may produce 40 mph or greater winds. Convective activity should taper off after sunset, but steering winds are expected to be weak, possibly extending any weather violations that occur.”
Trajectory
Eastward. Falcon 9 will appear to be flying nearly straight out to sea for spectators facing the Atlantic Ocean at launch time.
Landing
Landing is expected to be out at sea aboard one of SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships. The specific ASDS vessel has not yet been named by SpaceX.
Booster
SpaceX has not announced which booster and drone ship will be utilized for this mission.
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 their live coverage as well as up-to-date planned launch times.
Spaceflight Now will begin its live launch feed one hour prior to liftoff.
SFN on Youtube.
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started.
