SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral rescheduled for tonight following Sunday scrub
It's launch day — for the second straight day!
SpaceX crews scrubbed a scheduled Sunday night launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Now, SpaceX is targeting 7:20 p.m. EDT Monday Oct. 30 as the new launch time.
If more delays ensue, seven backup launch opportunities are available from 7:52 p.m. to 10:22 p.m. EDT Monday, SpaceX reports.
The Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites, which are packed inside the 230-foot rocket's payload fairing.
No local sonic booms are expected. After soaring skyward along a southeastern trajectory, the rocket's first stage booster will target landing aboard a drone ship out at sea about 8½ minutes after liftoff.
This Starlink mission will mark the record-breaking 59th orbital launch this year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.
The former annual record of 57 launches, which was set last year, was shattered Oct. 21 by SpaceX's last successful Starlink mission from Launch Complex 40.
Additionally, this SpaceX launch attempt is occurring just days after the Department of Defense's secretive plan to launch a hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was a no-go.
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Space Force: 95% chance of good weather
The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron pegs the odds of favorable launch weather at 95%.
"A surface ridge extends across the southeast US while a weak area of low pressure slowly driftsnorthwestward through the Bahamas," the squadron's forecast said.
"Little change in local weather is anticipated Monday, but a cold front will move rapidly southeast out of the Tennessee Valley and towards Florida by late Tuesday," the forecast said.
When is the next scheduled launch from Florida's Space Coast?
NASA's SpaceX CRS-29 mission — a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station — is targeted for launch at 10:01 p.m. EDT Nov. 5. Quick facts:
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9.
- Location: Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
- Trajectory: Northeast.
- Weather: TBD.
- Landing: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Landing Zone 1.
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.
- About: This marks SpaceX’s 29th commercial resupply mission for NASA to the ISS. A Dragon cargo capsule will deliver new science investigations, food, supplies and equipment to the international crew. The research includes laser communications and work to understand interactions between Earth's weather and space.
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Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1