SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launching 52 Starlink Satellites from Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX plans to launch its Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday evening from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, carrying 52 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.

What Time Is Today's SpaceX 52 Starlink Satellite Launch?

The launch opportunity is available at 10:14 p.m. ET, according to the private space company. A backup launch window will be available on Wednesday at 6:36 p.m. ET. The backup launch opportunity is expected to have a 90% chance.

The launch sequence will begin at T-38 minutes with a go/no-go poll that considers vehicle and payload health, weather conditions, and the status of the keep-out zones. The predicted probability of acceptable weather for an on-time launch for Starlink 4-26 is 70%.

The first stage booster supporting Tuesday's mission was previously used in one Starlink mission and SES-22. After the first stage separates, it will return to Earth and land on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage will continue to accelerate its way to low Earth orbit, where it will deploy the Starlink satellites about 15 minutes after liftoff.

The launch sequence will also include a stage separation. Before Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) and stage separation, the Merlin 1D engines remain lit for just over 150 seconds. Following the separation of the stages, a series of events will occur in rapid succession. The second stage then fires its single Merlin 1D Vacuum (MVac) engine for a six-minute and four-second burn to place the Starlink satellites in their initial parking orbit.

When the second stage reaches the proper parking orbit, Second Engine Cutoff 1 (SECO-1) occurs, and the stage enters a 45-minute and 14-second coast phase, after which the MVac ignites for a one-second burn to ensure the satellites are correctly positioned before deployment.

Finally, about an hour after launch, the four tension rods that keep the satellites in place are released, allowing the satellites to gradually drift away from the second stage and prepare to maneuver to their final positions over the next several months.

According to EverydayAstronaut.com, the Falcon 9 first stage launching tonight has already completed two spaceflights. However, it fell short of SpaceX's record of 13 orbital missions launched by three different Falcon 9 boosters.

NASA Spaceflight reports that on Aug. 3, 2022, SpaceX was given a special temporary permit to allow communications between US ground stations and Starlink satellites at latitudes above 53 degrees using elevations as low as 10 degrees, as opposed to the previous elevations of at or below 25 degrees. Since special permission was granted, this is the first launch of Starlink satellites.

(Photo : WikiImages/Pixabay)
Rocket Launch

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What Is the Starlink Satellite Constellation?

A Starlink satellite constellation is a group of satellites created by SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, aiming to build a network of 11,716 satellites. It is a private company's internet mega constellation that provides broadband service to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

Musk's company has already launched over 2,950 Starlink satellites into orbit, but many more are likely to follow. SpaceX has permission to launch 12,000 of the craft and has applied for permission to launch an additional 30,000 as part of Starlink phase 2.

The launch on Tuesday evening will be SpaceX's 21st Starlink mission of 2022 and its 35th orbital flight of the year overall, according to Space.com. The previous record for the most orbital missions in a year was 31, set in 2021. To put this number in context, it is roughly 20 times the number of satellites launched prior to 2019. The first 12,000 satellites would operate on the Ku and Ka bands, with the remaining 7,600 on the V-Band.