It’s a second straight SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch day from Florida’s Space Coast.
Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY’s Space Team live coverage of today’s SpaceX Starlink 6-54 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX is now targeting 6:08 p.m. EDT to launch a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 40. The Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites, which are packed inside the fairing atop the 230-foot rocket.
No Central Florida sonic booms are expected during this mission. After soaring skyward along a southeasterly trajectory, the rocket’s first-stage booster will target landing aboard a SpaceX drone ship out at sea 8½ minutes after liftoff.
When SpaceX’s live webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) becomes available about five minutes before liftoff, it will be posted below the countdown clock.
SpaceX Falcon 9 fueling now underway
Update 5:35 p.m.: Falcon 9 fueling procedures are now underway at Launch Complex 40, SpaceX just announced.
That means tonight’s Starlink countdown is now locked in to lift off at 6:08 p.m. without any delays, or else the launch must be postponed.
SpaceX Dragon departed ISS this afternoon
Update 5:22 p.m.: This afternoon, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule undocked from the International Space Station about 1:10 p.m.
The spacecraft launched to the ISS aboard a Falcon 9 on March 21 on NASA’s CRS-30 resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Splashdown is expected about 1 a.m. Tuesday off the Florida coastline.
SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard
Update 5:10 p.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency’s launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX targets Wednesday for next launch
Update 4:55 p.m.: Though SpaceX has not yet made a public announcement, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warning indicates the company is targeting Wednesday night for its next Starlink mission:
- Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Launch window: 9:43 p.m. to 2:14 a.m.
- Location: Launch Complex 40.
- Trajectory: Southeast.
- Local sonic boom: No.
- Booster landing: Drone ship out on the Atlantic Ocean.
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.
Space Force: 80% ‘go for launch’ weather
Update 4:38 p.m.: The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts 80% odds of favorable conditions during this evening’s SpaceX launch window.
Thick cloud layers and cumulus clouds pose the mission’s primary weather risks.
” … Considerable high cloudiness is expected to spill into the area from the west later (Saturday) and into Sunday, leading to an additional concern of sufficiently thick upper-level cloud layers; however, these clouds are likely to thin or exit the area for the backup launch opportunity on Monday,” the squadron’s forecast said.
For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale atRneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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