Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Update: Wednesday’s Starlink launch attempt was called off with slightly more than two minutes left in the countdown due to weather in the booster landing zone. Florida is experiencing a rather stormy week, leading to a high degree of uncertainty in the week’s launch schedule.
SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 Thursday morning from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, carrying another group of Starlink satellites. According to SpaceX, “Liftoff is targeted for 8:35 a.m. ET, with additional opportunities available until 12:31 p.m. ET.”
Booster B1077 will be making its fifteenth flight on this mission. It has been in service since October 5, 2022, when it launched the Crew-5 mission, and last flew on July 28, when it flew Starlink 10-4. Landing will be offshore on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions.’ There will be no sonic boom in the Space Coast region.
At A Glance
- Mission: Starlink 8-11
- Date: NET September 5, 2024
- Launch Window: 08:35 AM – 12:31 PM EDT*
- Weather: 70% GO
- Organization: SpaceX
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Trajectory: Northeast
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Booster Landing: ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’
- Payload: Group 8 Starlink satellites
- Destination: LEO
* consult SpaceX website for the specific target for T-0.
Payload
The payload for the mission is another group of Starlink satellites, which will join Group 8 of SpaceX/Starlink’s orbital constellation in low-Earth orbit. Starlink is an Internet service serving approximately 3.2 million customers in over 100 countries and territories globally.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron has called for a 30% Probability of Violation both Wednesday and Thursday, with the usual summer concerns: Cumulus Clouds and Anvil Clouds in the vicinity of the flight path of Falcon 9.
The forecast notes below that it has been rather wet and rainy the past few days on the Space Coast. That may be a cause for concern both Wednesday and Thursday as the conditions causing the rains will persist.
Trajectory
Tomorrow’s launch will take a familiar path: northeastwards. All Starlink Group 8 satellites have used the same trajectory, as have many other Starlink groups as SpaceX continues to add to the Starlink constellation.
Viewing The Launch Online
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Starlink 8-11. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
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 their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.
Launch Viewing: In Person
Since the launch is during the daytime, a lot of options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets.
