While SpaceX and Elon Musk celebrate another high-altitude test of the company's next-generation Mars rocket in Texas, it's also staying busy in Florida, where two Falcon 9 rockets are set to carry dozens of new Starlink satellites to orbit.
The next Starlink mission is scheduled to blast off at 10:19 p.m. PT Wednesday (1:19 a.m. Thursday in Florida) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Meanwhile, a separate batch of 60 of SpaceX's flying routers for its nascent broadband service is loaded on a Falcon 9 at Kennedy Space Center. This mission was originally set to blast off Monday but has since been postponed a few times and is now slated for 2:14 a.m. PT (5:14 a.m. ET) Friday. For a while, this launch was scheduled for just a few hours after the Wednesday night launch and everything seemed set for one very busy night at Cape Canaveral.
But on Wednesday SpaceX announced it was pushing the Kennedy Space Center launch back to Friday morning "to allow additional time for pre-launch checks."
To allow additional time for pre-launch checks, now targeting Friday, February 5 at 5:14 a.m. EST for launch of Starlink from LC-39A
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 3, 2021
The two missions represent the 18th and 19th Starlink launches overall.
SpaceX has long been working toward upping the pace of its launches. Musk has said he'd eventually like to see his rockets landed and turned around for another launch within 24 hours. Of course, he's talking about a single booster there, and this week's planned missions will involve two separate boosters. Nonetheless, pulling off two missions back to back from Cape Canaveral while also managing the SN9 launch situation in Texas is yet another test of the company's overall operational capacity.
Launch delays are common, however, so it's possible the schedule will continue to shift.
Whatever happens with this week's launches, we'll bring you the livestreams right here, starting about 10 minutes before liftoff.
Follow CNET's 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuZXQuY29tL25ld3Mvc3BhY2V4LXBsYW5zLXR3by1zdGFybGluay1sYXVuY2hlcy10aGlzLXdlZWstc3RhcnRpbmctdG9uaWdodC_SAWNodHRwczovL3d3dy5jbmV0LmNvbS9nb29nbGUtYW1wL25ld3Mvc3BhY2V4LXBsYW5zLXR3by1zdGFybGluay1sYXVuY2hlcy10aGlzLXdlZWstc3RhcnRpbmctdG9uaWdodC8?oc=5
2021-02-04 01:46:00Z
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar