Morning SpaceX launch would be Space Coast's 50th of the year

Yahoo

2 days ago

The 50th launch of 2025 was gearing up to be a human spaceflight, but instead it's likely to be another batch of Starlink satellites.
SpaceX and Axiom Space are holding back on any attempt to launch the Ax-4 mission from Kennedy Space Center while NASA and Roscosmos check out repairs to an ongoing leak on the Russian side of the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has a Falcon 9 set to launch with 23 more of its internet satellites from neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 11:21 a.m. during launch window that runs through 11:45 a.m. and backups on June 14 from 7:18-11:18 a.m.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron had forecast an 85% chance for good conditions at the opening of Friday's window, which was 7:45 a.m., but that conditions would worsen to only a 60% chance for good conditions near the close of that window. Saturday's forecast is similar with a 90% chance for good conditions at the window opening that worsen to 65% by later Saturday morning.
The first-stage booster is making its 21st launch and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
If it flies, it would mark the 50th orbital launch from the Space Coast for the year with all but two coming from SpaceX.
The other two were from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance.
Blue Origin debuted its New Glenn in January, but is not expected to fly again until summer at the earliest.
ULA had its first launch of the year in April using one of its remaining Atlas V rockets on the first of dozens of missions planned to help proliferate the Project Kuiper constellation of internet satellites for Amazon, which is seeking to compete with SpaceX's Starlink.
That first flight took up 27 satellites and a second mission is slated for as early as Monday when a ULA Atlas V aims to launch from Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 during a window from 1:25-1:55 p.m.
Amazon has bought up nine of ULA's remaining Atlas V rockets using one in 2023 for a pair of test satellites for Project Kuiper. ULA has 14 left total including seven more for Amazon launches.
ULA's plans are to begin using its new and larger Vulcan rocket as well as Amazon bought up an additional 38 launches on that rocket as well as flights on Blue Origin, Arianespace and even SpaceX as it tries to get more than 3,200 of its satellites into orbit by 2028.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has launched nearly 9,000 of its Starlink satellites since the first operational mission in 2019.
SpaceX just celebrated its 500th mission completion since its first Falcon 1 success in 2008. That early rocket had only two successful launches before SpaceX shifted to Falcon 9, which flew its first mission in 2010. Falcon 9 has launched 487 times while the bigger Falcon Heavy has flown 11 times.
SpaceX's replacement for the Falcon family of rockets its its in-development Starship and Super Heavy rocket, which to date has only flown suborbital test missions from Texas. The company plans to build out two Starship launch sites on the Space Coast for operational missions, though, including taking over Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37, which most recently was ULA's second home on the Space Coast for the now retired Delta IV family of rockets.
SpaceX and the Space Force demolished ULA's Delta IV launch tower Thursday to make way for a new Starship launch tower.
SpaceX's plans are to fly up to 76 missions a year from the new Canaveral site while adding up to 44 from a Starship pad in the works at KSC. This would be on top of continued Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches from its existing pads at KSC's Launch Complex 39-A and Canaveral's SLC-40.