SpaceX is at present concentrating on 7:34 p.m. ET (23:34 UTC) right this moment, July twenty second, for the launch of twenty-two V2 mini Starlink satellites from Area Launch Complicated 40 at Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station in Florida.
Maintaining an unimaginable tempo, SpaceX is about for its sixth mission of the month. The Falcon 9 will launch the Starlink satellites on a South Easterly trajectory to be inserted right into a 43-degree orbital inclination.
Focusing on Saturday, July 22 for Falcon 9’s launch of twenty-two @Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from SLC-40 in Florida → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 21, 2023
This mission, Group 6-6, carries 22 of the upgraded V2 mini-satellites, that are able to dealing with 4x occasions the bandwidth of their predecessors and have improved thrust for higher on-orbit maneuvering utilizing new Argon Corridor thrusters.
Since their debut in February 2023, SpaceX has launched 123 of the upgraded satellites, 11 of which have deorbited, in keeping with Jonathan McDowells Starlink monitoring website. To this point, there are simply 7 that are of their operational orbits, and 93 shifting in the direction of their appropriate orbit.
The Falcon 9 set for this mission is Booster 1076, having beforehand supported the launches of two Starlink missions, 2 industrial payloads, and an ISS resupply mission. This would be the sixth launch and touchdown of this booster, which is able to try touchdown on the droneship ‘Simply Learn the Directions’ roughly 8 and a half minutes after elevate off.
V2 mini Starlink satellites stacked earlier than fairing encapsulation (Credit score SpaceX)
The present climate outlook for this mission reveals a 40% likelihood of acceptable circumstances at lift-off, nonetheless, SpaceX has a number of alternatives extending till 10:56 p.m. ET (02:56 July twenty third) with the climate enhancing to an 85% likelihood of acceptable circumstances on the finish of the window. If they’re unable to launch on the twenty second, there may be additionally a launch window on the night of July twenty third between 7:09 p.m. ET and 10:31 p.m. ET.
If thunderstorms keep clear and with the launch at present set ~45 minutes earlier than sundown, it might be fairly a sight to see, make sure to comply with together with the webcast!
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