CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX is ready to launch a third group of Starlink satellites on Sunday (March 14) in as many weeks, and you can watch the action live online.
The company in Hawthorne, California, plans to fly one of its veteran Falcon 9 rockets nine times for a record with the mission, which is coming a few days after SpaceX’s last launch. The two-phase launcher will blow off EDT (1101 GMT) from Historic Road 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at NASA here in Florida at 6:01 p.m.
You can watch the launch here live and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, about 15 minutes before the setup begins. You can also watch the launch directly via SpaceX.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Mega Constellation Introduces Photos
Sunday morning’s flight will be the eighth launch for SpaceX this year, with a rapid launch cadence set last year when the company set a new launch record of 26 flights.
Forecasters with the 45th weather squad of the US space force reported that the launch weather looks promising for Sunday’s early morning suspension, with a 90% chance of favorable weather. The only effect is the possibility of cumulus clouds.
If necessary, there is a backup window on Monday with weather conditions that look just as promising.
Nice weather is also predicted in the range, which is good news for SpaceX’s most important drone – “Of course I still love you” – as it hopes to catch the booster when it returns to Earth. If successful, the landing will be the 77th recovery for SpaceX since the company landed its first booster in 2015, and the ninth landing for this particular booster.
Flight no. 9
The booster, B1051, is one of two fleet leaders in SpaceX’s stable of reusable rockets. It first flew in March 2019, which lifts an unmanned Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a demonstration mission.
After its successful debut, B1051 moved across the country to launches trio of Earth-observing satellites for Canada from SpaceX’s facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The booster then flew five times from Florida in 2020, with five different Starlink missions and a Broadband Satellite for Sirius XM.
Sunday’s mission is the second flight for B1051 this year, and its second Starlink mission so far in 2021. After the last flight took off on January 20, SpaceX engineers were able to turn the booster around and get 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 in just 38 days.)
The expansion of the constellation
This particular flight, Starlink 21, is the 22nd set of Internet radiation satellites delivered by SpaceX into space, including a set of initial prototypes in 2019. The company planned that its initial constellation 1440 would be strong, and although SpaceX is well underway to reach the milestone, the company has already been approved for as much as 30,000, with the option for even more time at a later date.
The latest stack of 60 satellites will join the fleet already in orbit, which has launched the total number more than 1,300. (The number contains prototypes of the satellites that are no longer in service.) SpaceX is rapidly filling its initial constellation, as it plans to launch a full commercial launch later this year.
For this purpose, the company recently started taking pre-orders via its website. If interested, potential customers can via the company’s Starlink website and secure service by depositing a deposit. The website does say that it may take a few months for the service to become active, and that it currently only allows a limited number of users per area.
In 2019, SpaceX launched an extensive beta testing program called ‘better than nothing beta“, which started only with employees. The initial results were a success, and therefore the company expanded the testing program to US residents. The service is now offered in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and recently New Zealand.
When wildfires raged across the Northwest Pacific, SpaceX provided its Starlink to service the Washington Division’s emergency management division to help first responders fight wildfires. It also provides terminals to the Hoh tribe, a reservation in Western Washington. Tribal leaders said members struggled to make contact and that the service helped provide education and access to telehealth.
SpaceX also connected the Pikangikum tribe in Canada, as well as residents in Wise County, Virginia. These users are exactly the type of people for whom the service is designed – people in rural or remote areas with little or no access to connectivity.
Fair repair
SpaceX’s iconic rocket launchers – GO Ms Tree and GO Ms Chief – are still being dismantled in port and are currently being maintained. 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 hoods.
After retrieving the two parts of the cabinet from the ocean, they were transported to Morehead City, NC, where they were transferred to another member of the SpaceX recovery fleet: GO Pursuit. The vessel will return the pieces to Port Canaveral so that GO Searcher and GO Navigator can pick up the fair after Sunday’s launch.
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