SpaceX pushes to Saturday planned launch from Cape Canaveral

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Feb 7, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX was set to send up the 13th launch from the Space Coast this year on Friday afternoon, but has retargeted efforts to Saturday.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 12-9 mission carrying 21 Starlink satellites is now aiming for liftoff at 1:23 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a launch window that runs through 5:08 p.m. Backup windows are available on Sunday beginning at 12:55 p.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a better than 95% chance for good conditions at the launch site Saturday.

The first-stage booster for this mission is flying for the 17th time and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.

SpaceX has been responsible for all by one of the missions flown from either Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral so far this year.

The Space Force said at the beginning of the year it was prepared to support up to 156 missions from the Space Coast, which averages to 13 a month.

SpaceX will once again fly the majority of those having flown 88 of the record 93 launches seen in 2024.

Blue Origin has already flown once this year with the debut of its New Glenn rocket, and plans on a second flight this spring while United Launch Alliance is awaiting certification of its Vulcan rocket by the Space Force so it can begin knocking out a logjam of national security missions this year.

Space Force officials said last month they expect to be complete with that certification by the end of February and ULA’s next launch could come as early as March.

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