CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – ***9:48 p.m. 10/2/2020***
SpaceX has scrubbed the Friday night launch of a GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force and Air Force.
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An abort was called at T-minus 2 seconds.
The next launch opportunity is for 9:39 p.m. on Saturday.
There is no word at this time if SpaceX will attempt to launch on Saturday night.
***ORIGINAL***
Florida’s Space Coast is ready to rocket into the weekend with two back-to-back SpaceX Falcon 9 launches.
First up, SpaceX is set to launch a GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force and Air Force. The GPS-III satellites is scheduled to liftoff sometime during a 15-launch window that opens at 9:43 p.m. from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 40.
Weather officers with the 45th Space Wing are predicting a 70% chance of favorable weather for liftoff.
SpaceX plans to land the rocket booster on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean less than 10 minutes after liftoff.
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Then on Saturday morning, SpaceX plans to launch another Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s own payload: 60 Starlink satellites.
That launch is scheduled for 8:43 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center launchpad 39A. Weather is 50% favorable for the launch window, according to weather officers.
Half of the rocket’s nosecone is also recycled hardware. One of Falcon 9′s fairing halves was used during two previous Starlink launches, according to SpaceX.
The rocket booster for this mission has launched twice before, including this summer when SpaceX launched Dragon Endeavour with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station, marking the first human spaceflight from Florida since 2011.
Again, after launch, the company plans to recover the rocket booster on a droneship at sea.
This launch will send the Starlink satellite constellation near 800 spacecraft in low-Earth orbit. Eventually, the company plans to have a fleet comprised of more than 40,000 satellites providing internet to even remote areas of the world.
Some of the first to benefit from the internet service has been first responders in areas impacted by wildfires in Washington state. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet the company is prioritizing emergency responders and locations with no Internet connectivity" for its first customers.
Launch times and dates are always subject to change and this week has been no exception. SpaceX and its competitor United Launch Alliance have both scrubbed multiple rocket launches for technical and weather issues this week.
ULA has yet to set a new launch date for the Delta IV Heavy rocket with a national security payload. An attempt late Wednesday was scrubbed about 7 seconds before liftoff.
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