Starlink launches continue apace
February 2, 2021
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX had hoped for a launch of 60 Starlink broadband satellites on Sunday January 31st. That was scrubbed because of weather anxieties. The launch was initially rescheduled for Monday February 1st, but that was also amended.
A new flight time for the morning of Tuesday February 2nd has been set, with a launch window opening at 06.19am (Florida-time/11.19 UTC) for what will be the 18th mission for SpaceX’s Starlink mega-constellation. As always, the launch will be subject to the normal anxieties over weather, not only at the Cape, but a few hundred miles downrange in the Atlantic where the landing barge (‘Just Read The Instructions’) will be positioned.
SpaceX continues to break records. For example, this will be the 116th mission for SpaceX and the 108th for its hugely-successful Falcon 9 rockets.
But SpaceX is going for another launch this Thursday (February 4th) when another batch of 60 satellites are scheduled for launch, and from the same LC-39A launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre. If the team can achieve this, then this would be a clear example of a very speedy turn-around for the SpaceX concept.