SpaceX is getting ready for its closing three Falcon 9 launches earlier than the tip of yr, which is able to start with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Area Pressure Base in California.
The Starlink 11-3 mission will add one other 22 V2 Mini satellites to the megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Area Launch Complicated 4 East (SLC-4E) is ready for five:48 p.m. PST (8:48 p.m. EST, 0148 UTC).
Spaceflight Now may have reside protection starting about half-hour previous to liftoff.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail quantity B1075 within the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a sixteenth time. It beforehand supported the launches of Transporter-11, SARah-2 and 12 Starlink missions.
A little bit greater than eight minutes after liftoff, B1075 will landing on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Nonetheless Love You,’ which is positioned within the Pacific Ocean. If profitable, it will likely be the a hundred and fifteenth booster touchdown on OCISLY and the 388th booster touchdown thus far.
SpaceX has yet one more Starlink mission scheduled earlier than closing out 2024. The Starlink 12-6 is positioned to launch from the Kennedy Area Middle in Florida at midnight to start Dec. 30, barring climate or technical delays.
In between these Starlink flights, SpaceX will make one other try at launching the ‘Astranis: From One to Many’ from Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station. The corporate had a pad abort throughout the Dec. 21 launch try, which prevented the launch.
With none fanfare, or clarification on the basis reason behind the difficulty, SpaceX determined to change the booster getting used on the Astranis flight. It swapped out B1077 and introduced up B1083 as a replacement.
Assuming all three launches can happen earlier than New Yr’s Day, SpaceX will shut out 2024 with a complete of 134 orbital launches utilizing its Falcon household of rockets, which is 10 shy of the corporate’s aim set originally of the yr. Two of that complete had been Falcon Heavy flights with the remainder being Falcon 9 launches.
In a put up on X, previously Twitter, Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s Vice President of Launch, famous that attaining these three may also mark “a document quarter for each Falcon and SpaceX.” The corporate is on observe to finish 41 orbital launches this quarter.
We’re now focusing on 134 launches – two shy of our final aim – to complete 2024 sturdy, with a launch from every pad and a document quarter for each Falcon and @SpaceX.
In the end, there is just one quantity that actually issues. ZERO failures. Our precedence is – and can stay – security… https://t.co/b3YO1Fm839
— Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver) December 27, 2024
