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Brevard Space Coast SpaceX ULA NASA rocket launch sites
A quick look at the rockets launching from different Brevard launch sites.
It's the second day in a row for a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Florida's Space Coast.
Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team's live coverage of today's SpaceX Starlink 6-54 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX is now targeting 6:08 PM EDT to launch the Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 40. Standby launch opportunities are available until 9:48 PM, if needed. The Falcon 9 will deploy a constellation of 23 Starlink internet satellites, which are positioned within the fascia atop the 230-foot-tall rocket.
No sonic booms are expected in Central Florida during this mission. After soaring toward the sky along a southeast trajectory, the rocket's first stage booster will aim to land on a SpaceX drone ship at sea 8 1/2 minutes after liftoff.
When SpaceX's live webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) becomes available approximately five minutes before liftoff, it will be posted below the countdown clock.
Update 5:22 p.m.: This afternoon, SpaceX's Dragon capsule separated from the International Space Station around 1:10 p.m
The spacecraft blasted off to the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 on March 21 on NASA's CRS-30 resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Splashdown is expected to occur around 1 a.m. Tuesday off the coast of Florida.
Update 5:10 p.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency's launch support team ahead of SpaceX's upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
Update 4:55 p.m.: Although SpaceX has not yet made a public announcement, a navigational advisory issued by the National Geographic Intelligence Agency indicates that the company Wednesday night is targeting the next Starlink mission:
- a task: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a constellation of 23 Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Launch window: 9:43 PM to 2:14 AM
- location: Launch Complex 40.
- a path: southeast.
- Local sonic boom: no.
- Booster landing: Drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before takeoff at floridatoday.com/space.
Update 4:38 p.m.: The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron is forecasting 80% odds of favorable conditions during SpaceX's launch window this evening.
Thick cloud layers and cumulus clouds pose the mission's primary weather hazards.
“…High clouds are expected to extend into the region from the west later (Saturday) and into Sunday, bringing additional concern from sufficiently thick upper cloud layers; however, these clouds are likely to weaken or emerge from “The area designated for a reserve launch opportunity is Monday,” the squadron forecast said.
For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neil He is Florida Today's space correspondent (for more of his stories, click here.) Call Neil on [email protected]. Twitter/X: @Rick Neal1
