SpaceX lines up Monday afternoon launch from Cape Canaveral

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Jan 27, 2025

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After a week of nasty weather across Florida, the business of launching rockets could get back on track Monday afternoon.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 looks to lift off at 3:22 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying 21 of the company’s Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit during a launch window that runs through 6:21 p.m. and has backup options Tuesday beginning at 2:50 p.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 95% chance for good launch conditions, which improves to greater than 95% if delayed 24 hours.

The first-stage booster for the mission is the latest to try and join the 20-launch club for the company, and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The fleet leader for SpaceX has flown 24 missions, but several have made it to 20.

The launch would be the ninth of the year from the Space Coast with SpaceX responsible for all but one of them, the Blue Origin New Glenn debut earlier this month.

The last mission to fly was six days ago, a bit of a lull after the first half of January saw a blistering pace of seven launches within 13 days between Jan. 3-16.

Space Launch Delta 45 officials confirmed the group was prepared to support up to 13 missions a month for a total of 156 for the year from among launch pads at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.

The majority of those will continue to be from SpaceX, which flew 88 of the 93 total missions in 2024, but a ramp up for United Launch Alliance as well as more Blue Origin flights are expected in 2025.

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