CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX is gearing up to launch a third batch of Starlink satellites in as many weeks on Sunday (March 14) and you can watch the action live online.
The Hawthorne, California-based company plans to fly one of its veteran Falcon 9 missiles nine times for a record nine times with the mission coming just days after SpaceX’s last launchThe two-stage launch vehicle will shoot at 6:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) from historic Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center here in Florida.
You can watch the launch live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, which starts about 15 minutes before the launch. You can also watch the launch directly through SpaceX.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite megaconstellation is launched in photos
Sunday morning’s flight marks SpaceX’s eighth launch this year, maintaining a rapid launch set last year when the company set a new launch record of 26 flights
Forecasters from the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron reported that the launch weather looks promising ahead of Sunday’s early morning launch, with a 90% chance of favorable weatherThe only minor concern is the potential for cumulus clouds.
If needed, there is a backup launch window on Monday, with the weather conditions looking just as promising.
Furthermore, fair weather is forecast, which is good news for SpaceX’s main drone ship – “Of course I still love you” – as it hopes to catch the booster when it returns to Earth. If successful, the landing will mark the 77th recovery for SpaceX since the company landed its first booster in 2015 and the ninth landing for this particular booster.
Flight number. 9
The booster, B1051, is one of two fleet leaders in the SpaceX stable with reusable rockets. It first flew in March 2019, to bring an unmanned Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a demonstration mission.
After that successful debut, the B1051 traveled all over the country launch of three Earth observation satellites for Canada from SpaceX facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The booster then flew a total of five times from Florida in 2020, with five different Starlink missions and one broadband satellite for Sirius XM
Sunday’s mission marks the second flight for the B1051 this year and the second Starlink mission to date in 2021. After its last flight took off on January 20SpaceX engineers were able to flip the booster and get it ready for its historic ninth flight in just 53 days – the second fastest turnaround time for this particular booster. (The fastest was between flights 7 and 8, which took off only 38 days apart.)
Expanding the constellation
This particular flight, Starlink 21, is the 22nd set of internet-radiating satellites that SpaceX has delivered into space, including a series of first prototypes in 2019. The company planned for the initial constellation 1440 to be strong, and while SpaceX is on the right track On its way to that milestone, the company has already received approval for a whopping 30,000 with the option for even more at a later date.
The latest stack of 60 satellites will join the fleet already in orbit, launching the total number over 1,300. (That number includes prototypes of the satellites that are no longer in service.) SpaceX is rapidly filling its original constellation, as it plans to launch a full commercial rollout later this year.
To that end, the company has recently started taking preorders through its website. If interested, potential customers can register via the Starlink website of the company and safe service by making a deposit. The website does say it may take several months for the service to become active, and it currently only allows a limited number of users per area.
In 2019 SpaceX launched an extensive beta testing program called “better than nothing betawhich started with employees only. Initial results proved successful, so the company expanded the testing program to US residents. Now the service is offered in multiple countries, including the UK, Germany, Canada and most recently New -Zealand.
When wildfires raged in the Pacific Northwest, SpaceX delivered its Starlink to Washington State’s emergency management department to help first responders fight the wildfires. It also provided terminals to the Hoh Tribe, a reservation in Western Washington. Tribe leaders said members struggled to connect and that the service helped with education and provided access to telecare.
SpaceX has also linked the Pikangikum tribe in Canada, as well as residents of Wise County, Virginia. These users are exactly the type of people the service is designed for – people in rural or remote areas with little to no access to connectivity.
Restoration of tubs
SpaceX’s iconic missile catchers – GO Ms Tree and GO Ms Chief – are still standing in port and undergoing maintenance. During the previous mission, GO Searcher and GO Navigator, two of SpaceX’s Dragon recovery boats, were sent to the recovery zone to retrieve the fairings.
After pulling the two parts of the fairing out of the ocean, the dup transported them to Morehead City, NC, where they were transferred to another member of the SpaceX salvage fleet: GO Pursuit. The ship will return the pieces to Port Canaveral so that GO Searcher and GO Navigator can retrieve the fairings after Sunday’s launch.
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