SpaceX Plans Starlink Night Launch From Vandenberg
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (SpaceX PR) — SpaceX is targeting today, Tuesday, August 30 for a Falcon 9 launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:40 p.m. PT (5:40 UTC on Wednesday, August 31), and a backup opportunity is available on Wednesday, August 31 at 10:40 p.m. PT (05:40 UTC on Thursday, September 1).
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
You can watch the live launch webcast starting about 5 minutes before liftoff.
8 responses to “SpaceX Plans Starlink Night Launch From Vandenberg”
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I did not realize that there have been more Falcon9 landings than Shuttle landings. I think there are more successful flights in a row than anything else flying, but not positive.
On a more negative note, I just read that Elon may be doing an interim Starlink before deployment of Starlink 2 due to extended development time of Starship. Anyone able to confirm or refute this?
You do not realize a lot in that little spacex bubble you bounce around in.
“While the R-7 turned out to be impractical as a weapon, it became the basis for a series of Soviet expendable space launch vehicles, the Soyuz family of launchers. As of 2018, in modified versions (Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG, and the Soyuz-2 (including the boosterless 2.1v variant), the vehicle is still in service, having launched over 1840 times.“
It has continued to launch since 2018.
SpaceX submitted a filing to the FCC regarding satellites that would be similar in most respects to those deployed via Starship except in geometry. Not ‘interim’ so much as, ‘same capabilities, different shape.’
The only major difference between the Starlink V2 and the mini Starlink V2 is the capability to connect with smartphones for text messages as detail in the Starlink/T-Mobile event. Probably a shorter orbital service life for the mini V2 comsats with less Krypton propellants aboard.
The mini V2 comsats will likely be replace by the optimized V2 comsats during constellation replenishment waves.
It is the implication that it is worth doing the mini that is interesting. If Starship were expected to be fully operational quickly, it doesn’t seem that it would be worth the effort.
Take a look at Soyuz/R7 family. They had a lot of launches, and of course a fair number of failures give its status as a pioneer launch system. It’s an interesting question as to the largest gap between Soyuz failures. We’ve had a few recently, and flight rates are down.
Going back to check is kind of interesting for historical purposes. Going forward the choice is much clearer.
Congratulations on another launch and landing success!