Updated: SpaceX’s California launch has been rescheduled. The new T-0 for the launch will be on Tuesday night.
SpaceX is preparing for a Starlink delivery mission from Cape Canaveral, and it will be the first of two planned Falcon 9 launches in less than 48 hours. The liftoff from pad 40 is now set for 11:31 p.m. EST (0431 UTC).
Near-perfect weather conditions are expected for the launch, with the U.S. Space Force meteorologists at the 45th Weather Squadron predicting a greater than 95-percent chance of acceptable weather.
Space Launch Complex 40 will see its first launch since SpaceX upgraded the facility for crew and cargo Dragon flights.
As the Starlink mission prepares for liftoff, SpaceX will also be rolling out another Falcon 9 with a Cargo Dragon for a space station resupply mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Meanwhile, at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, another Falcon 9 is being readied for the Transporter 9 mission, which has been postponed by two days to Nov. 11. This mission will carry a variety of small satellites on a ride-share mission.
The Falcon 9 booster for Tuesday’s Starlink 6-27 mission, tail number B1073, is making its 11th flight. It will be targeting an orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator and aim to land on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean.
After the launch, the second stage engine will fire for about six minutes, followed by deployment of the 23 V2 Mini Starlink satellites after an hour and five minutes. SpaceX has more than two million subscribers worldwide for its Starlink internet service.
The launch will mark SpaceX’s 80th orbital launch of the year and the 270th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket to date.
Spaceflight Now’s live coverage of the launch will begin about an hour before liftoff. You can also watch 24-7 views of launch pads at the Cape in our Launch Pad Live stream.
