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SpaceX has moved the scheduled launch of the Starlink satellite, which carries the next batch of 60 satellites, to Thursday, September 3.
In a post on Twitter, company representatives wrote: “Now targeting Thursday, September 3, 8:46 am EDT for the launch of Starlink from Launch Complex 39A, pending acceptance from Range; the team is using additional time for review of data”. The “Rank” in the post is the East Rank of the US Space Force, which is in charge of launches coming from the East Coast.
Now targeting Thursday, September 3 at 8:46 am EDT for Starlink launch from Launch Complex 39A, pending range acceptance – team is using additional time for data review – SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 31, 2020
Range acceptance pending
According to the Kennedy Space Center launches and events website, the upcoming SpaceX Starlink-11 mission is the twelfth mission to take the Starlink satellites into space. The constellation of satellites, which was first launched in February 2018, aims to provide reliable internet services around the world.
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to carry all 60 satellites on the next mission, originally scheduled for Sunday morning, August 30. The launch was originally scheduled at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Pad 39B, in Florida, but had to be rescheduled due to weather issues.
Representatives of SpaceX made the announcement to the public through their official Twitter account. “Halting today’s Starlink launch due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations,” wrote the Aug. 30 announcement. He added that the next target was Tuesday, September 1 at 9:29 AM EDT.
Withdrawn from the Starlink launch today due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations. Next launch opportunity is Tuesday, September 1 at 9:29 am EDT, pending rank acceptance – SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 30, 2020
Earlier today, the space company has again announced its new target schedule on September 3. SpaceX will also attempt to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on a spacecraft in the middle of the ocean.
The launch on Thursday, September 3, follows its previous mission, which successfully put 58 Starlink satellites into orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket also launched the satellites on August 18 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, also in Florida. The 11th Starlink mission also marked the aeronautical company’s 100th mission since its founding in 2002, as well as the sixth launch of the Falcon 9, setting a record for most missions carried out by a single orbital rocket.
RELATED: Upcoming SpaceX Starlink satellite launch to set new milestones
Setting new milestones
Although the twelfth Starlink mission was rescheduled at a later date, SpaceX had another project successfully completed on the same day, August 30. Despite threats from a low-pressure system crossing the Sunshine State, the space company was able to launch another Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket used three times carried another Earth observation satellite, this time for the Argentine space agency, plus two other satellites.
(Photo: SpaceX photo via Getty Images)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – MAY 30: In this image from the SpaceX brochure, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launches on the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard Launch Complex 39A May 30, 2020 at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Just at 7:18 p.m. ET on Sunday, the launch site received a green light for its weather condition, kicking off the launch and setting records in the process. It will be the 100th rocket launch for SpaceX, coinciding with a successful mission in a rare polar corridor. Its launch site, Florida, is optimized for equatorial launches. SpaceX’s launch was the first launch into a polar orbit since 1969 – a meteorological satellite from the Environmental Science Services Administration, a forerunner to NOAA.
Furthermore, as the Falcon 9 rocket carried its payload, the first stage of the booster was able to land successfully. Approximately nine minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the booster returned and landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zone-1 (LZ-1), also at Cape Canaveral.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 lands in Landing Zone 1 to complete the fourth flight of this reinforcement. pic.twitter.com/tUtAcKmIFn – SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 31, 2020
See more news and information about SpaceX at Science Times.
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