Updated at 4:20 p.m.: SpaceX has postponed the scheduled launch time of the Starlink 6-38 mission.
SpaceX is preparing for a busy week to close out January. Two Starlink flights will kick off the company’s preparations to launch its Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station for the first time.
First up is the Starlink 6-38 mission, which will send 23 more satellites into low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket launch supporting this mission is scheduled for Sunday, January 28, at 7:21 PM ET (0021 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will begin live coverage approximately one hour before launch.
SpaceX has invited Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to launch this mission. This will be the 74th Falcon rocket launch from this airfield (including nine Falcon Heavy rockets) and 167th overall.
The first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1062, is making its 18th flight since its last flight in late November. Previously, to date he supported two manned launches, a pair of GPS satellites, and his 10 Starlink launches.
Approximately eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1062 will land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This is the 58th booster to land on the ship and the 267th overall Falcon 9 first stage booster landing.
Assuming a successful launch on Sunday, the latest statistics would be:
- B1062’s 18th launch and landing
- 74th SpaceX launch from LC-39A
- 167th orbital launch by LC-39A
- 293rd Falcon 9 launch
- 58th landing on ASOG
- 267th Falcon 9 booster landing
- 6th orbital launch from Florida in 2024
- 8th SpaceX launch in 2024
- 19th orbital launch in 2024
juggling act
Assuming a successful launch of the Starlink 6-38 mission on Sunday evening, it will be followed within four hours by another Falcon 9 flight, Starlink 7-12, from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The mission is targeted for liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 6:16 pm PT (9:16 pm ET, 0216 UTC). This adds 22 more Starlinks to the Leo constellation.
While both missions are underway, SpaceX, NASA, and Northrop Grumman are making final preparations for the latest resupply mission to the ISS, the NG-20 launch.
![](http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cygnus-NG-20-encapsulation-small.jpg)
This will be the first time SpaceX will launch a Cygnus spacecraft. This is the first of three missions planned as Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace work on a joint rocket called Antares 330.
The cargo flight will launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
In this context, SpaceX is also continuing to support its commercial astronaut mission, Ax-3, which is about halfway through its two-week mission on the ISS. The four astronauts, led by Michael López-Alegría, are scheduled to return to Earth aboard the Dragon spacecraft next weekend, weather permitting.