SpaceX aims for its 50th Space Coast launch this year

SpaceX is targeting its 50th Space Coast launch of the year with another Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

A Falcon 9 carrying 22 of the company’s Starlink satellites is slated for liftoff from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:45 p.m. with four backup opportunities from 11:38 p.m. until 1:57 a.m. overnight and six backup opportunities late Thursday from 10:29 p.m. until 1:49 a.m. early Friday.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 50% chance for good conditions with 70% chance in event of a 24-hour delay.

The booster on this flight is making its eighth flight and will attempt a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.

This would be SpaceX’s 70th orbital launch of the year across all of its launch pads in Florida and California. It’s the 40th from Cape Canaveral with the other 10 Space Coast launches coming from Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX will have managed 50 of the 53 total Space Coast launches this year with two so far from United Launch Alliance and one from Relativity Space making up the rest. The majority of SpaceX launches have been for Starlink, which has sent up more than 5,000 satellites since the first launch in 2019 for its growing megaconstellation.

ULA, though, is gearing up for an Atlas V launch on Friday from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 on a mission to bring up the first two test satellites for Amazon’s planned foray to complete with Starlink, its own internet megaconstellation called Project Kuiper.

Weather for ULA’s attempt Friday is tracking at 80% chance for good conditions.