Launch recap: Scroll down to review live coverage of the Tuesday, April 23, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral that marked the 300th Falcon booster landing.
Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY’s Space Team live coverage of tonight’s SpaceX Starlink 6-53 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX officials postponed the mission’s initial Monday night launch window while facing a poor weather forecast. Now, SpaceX is targeting 6:17 p.m. EDT to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Falcon 9 will deploy another 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 Starlink 6-53 mission. After soaring skyward along a southeasterly trajectory, the rocket’s first-stage booster will target landing aboard a drone ship out at sea 8½ minutes after liftoff.
Cape Canaveral:Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida
SpaceX Falcon 9 booster lands
Update 6:25 p.m.: The Falcon 9 first-stage booster just landed aboard SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions out on the Atlantic Ocean, completing its ninth mission.
Liftoff!
Update 6:17 p.m.: SpaceX has just launched the Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX launch webcast begins
Update 6:12 p.m.: SpaceX’s launch webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) is now posted above, right below the countdown clock.
Liftoff is scheduled in five minutes from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX booster to land on drone ship
Update 6:04 p.m.: Tonight’s mission marks the ninth flight for this Falcon 9 first-stage booster, SpaceX reported.
The booster previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, USSF-124 and five Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, crews expect the booster to land on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions out on the Atlantic Ocean 8 minutes, 31 seconds after liftoff.
SpaceX: Systems and weather looking good
Update 5:56 p.m.: “All systems and weather are looking good for today’s launch from Florida,” SpaceX officials announced in a tweet.
SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard
Update 5:50 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 Falcon 9 fueling now underway
Update 5:43 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 6:17 p.m. without any delays, or else the launch must be postponed.
SpaceX launch countdown timeline
Update 5:29 p.m.: Following is a breakdown of SpaceX’s behind-the-scenes countdown timeline. T-minus:
- 38 minutes: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for propellant load.
- 35 minutes: Rocket-grade kerosene and first-stage liquid oxygen loading begins.
- 16 minutes: Second-stage liquid oxygen loading begins.
- 7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
- 1 minute: Command flight computer begins final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
- 45 seconds: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for launch.
- 3 seconds: Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start.
- 0 seconds: Liftoff.
SpaceX targets weekend launch doubleheader
Update 5:15 p.m.: SpaceX is targeting back-to-back rocket launch attempts Saturday and Sunday from the Space Coast, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warnings indicate.
SpaceX has yet to announce these missions. But Saturday night, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket may launch Galileo satellites for the European Space Agency’s global navigation system between 8:29 p.m. and 9:11 p.m.
Then Sunday, another Starlink launch window will open from 5:50 p.m. to 10:21 p.m.
Space Force: 95%-plus odds of good weather
Update 4:54 p.m.: The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron pegged tonight’s odds of “go for launch” weather at greater than 95%.
“High pressure quickly drops into the southeastern US overnight (Monday), centering just offshore NE Florida on Tuesday. The proximity of the high center will keep east-northeast flow light going into the launch window Tuesday evening, but also allow a low-topped, mixed stratocumulus-cumulus deck to stream onshore,” the squadron’s forecast said.
“These are not expected to be a launch weather concern as their height will be limited by drier conditions aloft,” the 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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