SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Area Middle within the midnight hour on Monday so as to add one other 21 satellites to its orbiting Starlink fleet.
Liftoff of the Starlink 12-2 mission from pad 39A is scheduled for 12:35 a.m. EST (0535 UTC), simply 5 days and 7 hours because the final launch from the historic launch website, a brand new document turnaround for SpaceX.
Spaceflight Now can have dwell protection of the mission beginning an hour previous to launch. It will likely be SpaceX’s 131st orbital launch of 2024.
Meteorologists on the forty fifth Climate Squadron, primarily based at Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station, predicted a 60-percent likelihood of acceptable climate situations for launch. The primary concern is for rain showers that would violate the Jap Vary’s cumulus cloud rule. If wanted there are a number of launch alternatives for the Starlink 12-2 mission till 3:21 a.m. EST (0821 UTC).
Of the 21 satellites, 13 are geared up for direct-to-cellphone connections. SpaceX’s U.S. cellphone associate, T-Cell, just lately introduced it might be beginning a beta textual content messaging service by way of the direct-to-cell Starlink satellites.
Starlink 12-2 will likely be launched by Falcon 9 first-stage booster 1080, making its 14th flight. The booster entered service in Might 2023 with the launch of the Axiom 2 industrial area station mission. It has launched seven earlier batches of Starlink satellites.
Following stage separation, the booster will proceed downrange for a touchdown on the SpaceX droneship ‘Simply Learn the Directions’ stationed within the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bahamas.
The 21 Starlink satellites will likely be deployed from the Falcon 9 higher stage right into a 293 by 284 kilometer, 43-degree inclination orbit a bit of over an hour after launch.
