SpaceX Starlink mission 6-11 from Space Force Station Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the company’s latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on August 26, 2023.
SpaceX
Update: The launch of the Falcon 9 with 22 Starlink satellites at 9:05 p.m. EST Saturday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida can be seen by fans at both Daytona International Speedway at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and at Exploria Stadium In Orlando during an Orlando City MLS soccer game. Successful launch followed up almost via a booster landing aboard a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read our full post-launch story here.
Follow the live updates below as SpaceX targets a 9:05 p.m. EST Saturday night launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and 22 Starlink internet satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Space Force meteorologists last reported that weather conditions were 95% “stable.”
After takeoff and flying southeast, Falcon 9 will fly along a southeasterly trajectory and land on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
If schedules hold, this will be the 44th Space Coast launch this year and the second to launch from the Space Coast in less than 18 hours after Crew-7’s early launch this morning to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Updates from Saturday’s event below:
9:14 PM EST: The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket has landed aboard the Just Read the Instructions drone ship, completing its third mission.
– Jimmy Groh
9:05 PM EST: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket equipped with 22 Starlinks satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This marks the second flight of the day for the company, which just under 18 hours earlier launched NASA’s Crew-7 mission with three astronauts and one cosmonaut to the International Space Station from the nearby Kennedy Space Center. The mission is expected to dock at the space station at 8:50 a.m. EST Sunday after a 30-hour flight into orbit.
Here’s the post-launch timeline:
T Plus:
- 00:01:12 min Max Q (the moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
- 00:02:30 min First Stage Main Engine Cut Off (MECO)
- 00:02:33 minutes The first and second stages are separate
- 00:02:40 min Second Stage Engine Start (SES-1)
- 00:03:07 min Post a gift
- 00:06:13 min Burning begins entering the first stage
- 00:06:33 minutes The end of burning, entering the first stage
- 00:08:05 min. The first stage of descent begins to burn
- 00:08:28 min First stage descent
- 00:08:44 min Second stage engine cut off (SECO-1)
- 00:54:06 min Second Stage Engine Start (SES-2)
- 01:05:15 Launch of the Starlink satellites
– Jimmy Groh
8:55 PM EST: Now, there are only 10 minutes left until the Falcon 9 liftoff with 22 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:05 PM EST. Here’s a look at the last few milestones left to pass:
T minus:
- 00:07:00 min Falcon 9 begins engine cooling before launch
- 00:01:00 min. Command the flight computer to initiate final pre-launch checks
- 00:01:00 min fuel tank pressure starts until it reaches flight pressure
- 00:00:45 seconds The SpaceX launch manager checks the launch
- 00:00:03 seconds, the engine controller has commanded the start of the engine ignition sequence
- 00:00:00 Falcon 9 takes off
– Jimmy Groh
8:30 PM EST: SpaceX has begun loading kerosene and liquid oxygen into the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 40. The teams are still counting down until 9:05 p.m. EDT. Weather conditions are still favourable.
– Jimmy Groh
8:15 PM EST: Here’s a look at the remaining countdown milestones on tonight’s mission:
T minus:
- 00:38:00 min. The SpaceX launch manager checks that the propellant loading has begun
- 00:35:00 min loading of RP-1 (kerosene used in missiles) begins.
- 00:35:00 min The first stage of LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins.
- 00:16:00 min Loading of the second stage of LOX begins
- 00:07:00 min Falcon 9 begins engine cooling before launch
- 00:01:00 min. Command the flight computer to initiate final pre-launch checks
- 00:01:00 min fuel tank pressure starts until it reaches flight pressure
- 00:00:45 seconds The SpaceX launch manager checks the launch
- 00:00:03 seconds, the engine controller has commanded the start of the engine ignition sequence
- 00:00:00 Falcon 9 takes off
– Jimmy Groh
8:05 PM EST: Now within an hour of launch. All indications are that SpaceX continues to target a 9:05 PM EST this evening for the launch of Starlink mission 6-11 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force station. Tonight’s flight will be the third flight of this Falcon 9 first stage booster rocket. After flying on a course to the southeast, it will target a drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean. There are no local sonic booms with this task.
– Jimmy Groh
7:00 PM EST: SpaceX teams are still counting down to the launch of this Starlink mission, known as 6-11, from Launch Complex 40. A quick check of the weather shows conditions around the spaceport are favorable for launch on time tonight. Stay tuned for more frequent updates as we progress through the countdown.
– Jimmy Groh
6:00 PM EST: Good evening! Welcome to our live coverage of today’s second mission to Target Liftoff from the Space Coast. SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are counting down to the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with 22 Starlink satellites at 9:05 p.m. EDT.
It was recently reported that weather conditions were 95% “stable”. If needed, launch teams will have a window tonight that extends to 11:04 PM EST.
Stay tuned for more frequent updates throughout the night as we approach the start of refueling, which should begin 38 minutes before take-off.
– Jimmy Groh
“Beer aficionado. Gamer. Alcohol fanatic. Evil food trailblazer. Avid bacon maven.”