Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
Despite on a 10% GO forecast and storms closing in from a distance, Falcon 9 flies another perfect mission.
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 NG-21 (S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee) to orbit this morning from Cape Canaveral. Liftoff was at 11:02 AM EDT under variable skies that showed a strong chance of storms coming in shortly afterwards.
Roughly seven and a half minutes after liftoff, Booster B1080 made a meteoric descent before firing up three of its Merlin engines and settling down for a soft landing back at the Cape at Landing Zone 1. At that moment, a pair of sonic booms heralded the Space Coast of booster’s return from its tenth flight.
At 11:18 AM EDT, SpaceX announced a successful separation of Cygnus from Falcon 9, ending their mission portion having had yet another good day.
Cygnus will not travel to ISS, and is under Northrup Grumman and NASA’s control. It is expected to arrive around 03:10 AM EDT. NASA TV will begin coverage 01:30 AM EDT on its broadcast and streaming channels.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
SpaceX will launch the Starlink 8-3 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral NET Wednesday at 08:59 AM EDT
- Date: NET August 3, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX
- Mission: Starlink 8-3
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: 08:59 AM – 12:59 PM EDT
- Payload: Another 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Keep in mind that launch dates and times change often. Launch attempts can be scrubbed anytime due to weather, technical reasons, or range conditions.
