Updated: 10:57 PM EDT:
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 10:47 pm EDT (0247 UTC), marking the 62nd historic orbital launch of the calendar year. The mission broke its own orbital launch record, which was set in 2022 by launching 61 orbital missions in a single year.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in a post on his social media platform X that the company is “aiming to fly 10 Falcons per month by 2019.” [the] By the end of this year, next year it will be 12 times a month. ”
The first stage booster B1073 supporting this mission also completed its 10th launch and landing to date. This will be the 24th Starlink mission launched from LC-39A and SpaceX’s 69th launch from that pad to date.
Updated at 6:56pm EDT:
SpaceX is currently targeting a launch time for T-0 of 10:47 PM EDT (0247 UTC). This is 90 minutes before the scheduled splashdown of the Crew 6 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavor.
SpaceX has one additional backup time in preparation for this launch on September 3 at 11:05 PM EDT (0305 UTC). There will also be five backup opportunities from 6:59 PM EDT (22:59 UTC) on Monday, September 4 to 10:39 PM EDT (0239 UTC on September 5).
The Falcon 9 rocket is preparing for SpaceX’s record 62nd orbital launch this year on Sunday. The previous record was set by the company in 2022 with 61 launches. Launch from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, carrying 21 Starlink satellites, is currently targeted for 9:56 PM EDT (0156 UTC).
SpaceX has launched a rocket into orbit on average every four days so far this year. Nine Falcon 9s were launched in August. The total of 62 launches in a calendar year is the highest number ever achieved by a single commercial launch company.
“We aim to have 10 Falcon flights a month by the end of this year, and 12 flights a month next year,” said SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. said in a post on the social media site (known as Twitter).
SpaceX’s 62nd launch this year will carry 21 so-called V2 minisatellites for the company’s Starlink internet service.
Seconds after passing the launch pad, Falcon 9 will criss-cross toward a southeasterly orbit, aiming for an orbit inclined at 43 degrees to the equator. After separating from the second-stage booster about two and a half minutes into the flight, the first-stage booster will head to land on the Just Read the Handling drone ship, which will be deployed about 390 miles in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas. 627km from the cape). First stage booster, tail number B1077, is on her 10th mission.
Two second stage burns are required to place the satellite in the required circular orbit. Separation of the 21 Starlink aircraft will occur approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes after liftoff.
This will be the 16th launch of this next-generation Starlink satellite model, which is larger and has four times the bandwidth than previous versions. The full-sized V2 Starlink satellites are scheduled to be launched by SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship vehicle, but Starship’s delayed debut means the company will create a compressed version of the satellite to be launched on a Falcon 9. Became.
To date, SpaceX has launched a total of 5,027 Starlink satellites into orbit, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which maintains a spaceflight database.
In early May, SpaceX announced that Starlink had more than 1.5 million subscribers. The company’s Internet services are available in more than 60 countries.
Watch a live view from the Cape on the Launch Pad live stream.