A bright Falcon 9 rocket sprung into the night, giving the sky over the Cape Canaveral an orange glow. Lifting off at 10:37 p.m. EDT, the rocket had already been delayed twice before barely making the launch window.
Originally scheduled for 7:47 p.m., SpaceX moved the liftoff time back to 10:11 p.m., which was towards the end of the allotted launch window.
When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida
SpaceX released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that winds may be a concern for the launch, before moving the launch time yet again − this time right to the end of the launch window. However, SpaceX stated the delay was for recovery teams to prepare. While the Falcon 9 lands on a droneship, the fairing halves, which protect the satellites during launch, are recovered from the ocean.
Launch team now targeting the end of tonight’s window to allow recovery assets to get into final position. Counting down now to launch at 10:37 p.m. ET.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 1, 2024
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Florida
The booster used for this launch saw its fourteenth flight. On top of seven other Starlink missions, this Falcon 9 carried CRS-26, OneWeb Launch 16, Intelsat IS-40e, Ob3 mPOWER, Ovzon 3, and EUTELSAT 36D.
Approximately eight and a half minutes after lifting off, the booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. With the landing site far from Central Florida, sonic booms were not heard as the booster landed.
What’s launching next from Cape Canaveral, Florida?
This launch has the potential be the first in a double-launch weekend. Saturday afternoon, at 12:25 p.m., Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner is slated to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station.
If all goes according to plan, and we will see the astronauts dock to the ISS at approximately 1:50 p.m. on Sunday, June, 2.
While onboard, Williams and Willmore will test the performance of the Starliner spacecraft for its certification to ferry NASA crews to and from the ISS.
Be sure to follow the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team at floridatoday.com/space for the latest updates from the Space Coast.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launches Starlink last minute from Cape Canaveral, Florida
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