Updated Dec. 29 at 6:25 p.m. EST (2325 UTC): SpaceX delayed the launch by a day.
SpaceX is getting ready to finish its orbital launch yr in the identical method it started, by launching a batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites together with 13 that includes direct to cellular phone capabilities.
The Starlink 12-6 mission will launch onboard the corporate’s 132nd and remaining Falcon 9 flight of 2024. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is ready for 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 UTC) on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Launch was unique scheduled for 1:02 a.m. EST on Monday, Dec. 30, however appeared to slide to the top of the window as a result of launch preparations have been operating not on time. As of 6:25 p.m. EST on Sunday, the rocket had not rolled out of its hangar.
Spaceflight Now could have dwell protection starting about an hour previous to liftoff.
On Dec. 28, the forty fifth Weather Squadron issued a forecast for the mission, suggesting a 60 % probability of favorable climate at liftoff. Meteorologists cited cumulus clouds and anvil clouds as attainable constraints to launch.
“The major climate function this weekend is a chilly entrance anticipated to succeed in down into the Florida peninsula on Sunday, passing the Spaceport early within the morning on Monday. Ahead of the entrance, we will anticipate scattered showers with an opportunity for some remoted storms,” launch climate officers wrote. “Most mannequin options have the showers transferring offshore simply previous to the opening of the window, and a weak secondary line is anticipated to make its method by after the shut of the window.
“Thus, for the first launch try, considerations can be for lingering storm and anvil exercise, particularly close to the start of the window.”
The Falcon 9 first stage booster for this mission, B1078 within the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a sixteenth time. Its earlier missions included Crew-6, USSF-124 and 11 Starlink missions.
A bit greater than eight minutes after liftoff, B1078 will goal a touchdown on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ If profitable, it is going to mark the 104th booster touchdown on JRTI and the 390th booster touchdown so far.
Another file yr
With a profitable mission, SpaceX will shut out one other record-breaking yr for its Falcon household of rockets. It elevated its launches year-over-year by practically 40 % ending 2024 with 134 orbital launches in comparison with 2023’s 96.
Here’s a breakdown of the yr by quarter:
- Q1 – 31
- Q2 – 36 (one Falcon Heavy)
- Q3 – 27
- This autumn – 40 (one Falcon Heavy)
SpaceX confronted a number of stints in the course of the yr the place the Falcon fleet was grounded attributable to anomalies that occurred in flight. Most notably was an higher stage failure on the Starlink 9-3 mission, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 12 and resulted within the lack of the 20 Starlink satellites on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the fleet whereas SpaceX carried out a mishap investigation. The firm was cleared to renew launches on July 25 whereas the investigation remained open. Its first launch following that occurred on July 27.
The following month, a failed booster touchdown on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ resulted in one other fleet grounding, although this was cleared by the FAA inside a number of days.
Finally, following profitable deployment of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-9 mission on Sept. 28, there was one other higher stage problem which brought about a mistiming of the deorbit burn. A 3rd mishap investigation was opened, however SpaceX was allowed to launch the Hera mission for the European Space Agency on Oct. 7 as a result of the mission didn’t require a deorbit burn.
The FAA cleared a return to flight for SpaceX on Oct. 11.
The firm is aiming to additional ramp up its launch tempo in 2025 whereas introducing new prospects and extra astronaut missions. SpaceX is poised to launch no less than two industrial astronaut missions (Fram-2 and Ax-4) and two crew rotation missions to the International Space Station for NASA and its companions (Crew-10 and Crew-11).
There might also be one other personal astronaut mission earlier than the top of the yr, although that hasn’t been introduced but by NASA. Vast is vying fly a industrial crew to the ISS as it really works in direction of reaching its personal industrial house station.
Among its many purchasers in 2025, SpaceX can also be poised to launch three batches of Project Kuiper satellites on behalf of Amazon. The on-line retail large mentioned in a December 2023 weblog put up that launches onboard Falcon 9 would happen starting in mid-2025.
However, that put up additionally famous that it meant to start deployment of its satellite tv for pc fleet in “the primary half of 2024” and would “have sufficient satellites deployed to start early buyer pilots within the second half of 2024.” Amazon additionally mentioned in late 2024 that its first operational batch of Project Kuiper satellites will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket within the first quarter of calendar yr 2025.
