SpaceX targets launch from KSC using booster for record-tying 19th time
SpaceX is set to send up another batch of Starlink satellites from the Space Coast on Wednesday night using a first-stage booster for a record-tying 19th time.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of SpaceX’s internet satellites is set to launch targeting 9:25 p.m. (pushed from 7:29 and 7:51 p.m.) during a four-hour window that runs from 7:29-11:29 p.m. flying from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A. Backup opportunities are available during a four-hour window Thursday that opens at 7:04 p.m.
Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 60% chance for good conditions with upper level wind shear a concern. That improves to 95% in the event of a one-day delay.
The first-stage booster could equal the total number of flights by two of SpaceX’s other boosters, one of which, though, was destroyed when it toppled over at sea.
This booster’s resume includes two human spaceflights, the Inspiration4 orbital mission flown by billionaire Jared Issacman and the first private spaceflight for Axiom Space on its Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station. It has also flown the GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, ARABSAT BADR-8 and 11 Starlink missions.