California: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has rescheduled the launch of another batch of its Starlink Internet satellites. It comes shortly after the company itself shelved the previous launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to carry 22 Starlink spacecraft from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. However, the company called off the launch before beginning the fueling process. The takeoff will be rescheduled for another date after tackling the issues that occurred before. According to reports, SpaceX plans to launch the mission before the end of March.
Once it occurs, SpaceX will stream live visuals of the event via their X account. The coverage will commence about five minutes before liftoff. As per the reports, the Falcon 9’s first stage is expected to return to Earth for a vertical touchdown roughly 8.5 minutes after launch, if everything goes according to plan.
This is the 15th flight of the first-stage booster that supports this mission. Previously, it launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and eight Starlink missions. After the stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage will transport 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) for deployment, which is expected to occur around 62 minutes after lift-off. The launch was rescheduled from the original date.
It will be the 30th Falcon 9 flight of 2024 and the 20th dedicated to building out the Starlink mega constellation. As of now, SpaceX launched 6,077 Starlink satellites, out of which 5,610 are currently functioning.
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