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Month: February 2024

SpaceX on track to launch Space Force mission today despite moonshot delay

SpaceX on track to launch Space Force mission today despite moonshot delay

Despite a delay in launching a SpaceX rocket with a moonbound payload from Kennedy Space Center overnight, the company has another one lined up from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ready to fly.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the classified USSF-124 mission for the Space Force is set to lift off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting the front end of a four-hour window that runs from 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a better than 95% chance for good conditions.

The first-stage booster is making its seventh flight and will aim for a recovery touchdown back at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 2, meaning one or more sonic booms could be heard across parts of Central Florida.

The payloads includes two satellites for the Missile Defense Agency and four satellites for the Space Development Agency headed to low-Earth orbit, according to the Space Force’s Space Systems Command. It’s the 11th National Security Space Launch on a SpaceX rocket.

“With each national security launch, we continue to strengthen America’s capabilities and its deterrence in the face of growing threats while adding stability to a very dynamic world,” said Space Systems Command’s Col. Jim Horne in a press release. “It’s what we do in the Space Force, and we take that charge seriously.” read more