SpaceX loses first of final two Space Coast launches in 2024

Despite a failed late-night launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, SpaceX plans to launch from Kennedy Space Center late Monday night, capping a record year for the Space Coast.

Sunday’s launch saw a Falcon 9 carrying Astranis Space Technologies’ communications satellite lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The mission was postponed from a Dec. 20 attempt when the booster stalled when the countdown clock hit zero. SpaceX ended up switching boosters for the mission.

The aircraft recovered and landed aboard the A Shortfall of Gravitas, a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, on its seventh flight, including this year’s Crew-8 and Polaris Dawn missions.

This will be the 92nd launch from the Space Coast in 2024, already 20 more than the 72 observed by all providers in 2023, with one more to go.

SpaceX’s final launch of the year could take place at midnight, with another Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites lifting off from KSC’s pad 39-A during a launch period that ends at 3:28 a.m. There will also be a backup opportunity during the same period on December 31st. .

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron predicts a 60% chance of favorable launch conditions as a front moves over the Florida peninsula on Sunday.

The mission’s first stage booster has flown on Crew 6 missions out of 15 flights to date, and this will be its 16th flight. We aim to recover and land on the unmanned ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.

It also marks the end of a busy weekend for SpaceX, which flew a Starlink mission from California late Saturday.

Elon Musk’s company has flown the Falcon family of rockets 134 times. Of those, 62 have been from Cape Canaveral, 26 from KSC, including this year’s Falcon Heavy launch, and 46 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Additionally, the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles under development were flown on four suborbital test flights from Starbase, a Texas launch site.

For the Space Coast, KSC launches will bring the total to 93 launches per year, with all but five coming from SpaceX.

The remaining five aircraft, all from United Launch Alliance, flew three different rockets from two launch pads. In 2024, the Vulcan rocket will debut in January, with a second flight in the fall, as well as two Atlas V missions, including a Boeing Starliner crew flight test, all from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41. flew. The final launch was also held in this year. Photo of ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket from Canaveral Space Launch Complex 37.

Among the Space Coast launches were five manned spaceflights carrying 16 people into space. These include the Starliner flight from ULA to the International Space Station and four SpaceX Crew Dragon launches.

SpaceX’s launches of the Crew-8 and Crew-9 missions, as well as flights to Axiom Space on the Ax-3 mission, also went to the ISS. The Polaris Dawn mission brought billionaire Jared Isaacman, a candidate for the next NASA administrator, and three others on the first commercial spacewalk into orbit.

One rocket that didn’t launch in 2024 but will still launch is Blue Origin’s New Glenn, which was on track to send its debut mission into orbit by the end of the year.

The Federal Aviation Administration granted Jeff Bezos’ company permission to launch a heavy-lift rocket on Friday, the same day Blue Origin conducted its final high-temperature test launch of its rocket on pad 36 at Canaveral Space Launch Complex. It was also a day when I was able to do this.

The FAA has scheduled the NG-1 Blue Ring Pathfinder mission for a launch window from late Monday at 11:30 p.m. to early Tuesday at 2:45 a.m. and late New Year’s Eve in the same window. I cleared it in the backup frame from to New Year’s Day.

2024 Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.