Despite windy and stormy conditions offshore, SpaceX broke a nearly two-week launch drought Thursday as a Falcon 9 blasted through the clouds bringing a European satellite into orbit.
Approximately eight and a half minutes later, the first stage booster landed on Just read the instructions drones in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked SpaceX’s 250th landing of the first stage for an orbital mission and was the 45th launch of the year from the Space Coast.
Thursday’s launch was the first since Friday, June 7 – almost two weeks ago. This was a Starlink launch from Launch Complex 40, which, due to NOAA’s GOES-U weather satellite heading to Pad 39A, is SpaceX’s only open pad. A troubled Falcon 9 meant SpaceX had to remove the rocket carrying another set of Starlink satellites from the launch pad in order to get Astra 1P/SES-24 off the ground.
Then the weather slowed everything down even more. Rain and strong winds wiped out the liftoff two days in a row, before the satellite finally blasted off from the launch pad on Thursday.
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The SES/Astra communications satellite was carried into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off on time at 5:35 pm EDT.
Astra 1P/SES-24 is a communications satellite for a partnership of SES and Astra, which are European communications organizations. The Ku-band geostationary satellite, which was developed by Thales Alenia Space, will provide satellite television service to Germany, France and Spain. According to the SES website, Astra satellites have been providing TV and radio to Germany since 1988.
What rocket will be launched next from Cape Canaveral, Florida?
According to a geospatial navigation warning and FAA advisory, SpaceX plans to launch its delayed Starlink 10-2 mission on Sunday, June 23, during a window that opens at 1:03 p.m. EDT. The launch will take place from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40.
The mission was delayed after a last-minute abort on Friday, June 14, which Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch, said was due to a problem with the rocket.
On Tuesday, June 25, the NOAA GOES-U weather satellite will launch at 5:16 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A. The launch vehicle will be the Falcon Heavy, a rarity that has been fielded for missions that require heavy lift. GOES-U is not a small satellite – comparable in size to a small school bus.
Brooke Edwards is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact him at bedwards@floridatoday.com or at X: @brookeofstars.
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