SpaceX’s launch of the Starlink mission overnight marked another significant achievement. This is the company’s 280th Falcon 9 launch to date and its 90th orbital launch in 2023, both from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Starlink 6-33 mission was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:07 p.m. EST (0507 UTC).
Although the mission’s weather was perfect upon takeoff, meteorologists continued to monitor conditions farther downrange. The only thing to be on the lookout for in a prediction that calls for 95% favorable weather is liftoff winds.
The launch forecast said that a second push of cold air would come in and bring with it clear skies and a higher pressure gradient over the Space Coast. Liftoff winds are still the only issue as a result of this; strong surface winds will persist until tomorrow evening and gradually decrease during the launch window.
Upper-level wind shear is categorized as “low to moderate” in the forecast and was emphasized in the Additional Risk Criteria section.
With four days, one hour, six minutes, and forty seconds having passed since the last launch from SpaceX’s workhorse launchpad, SLC-40, the Starlink 6-33 mission represents the fourth fastest turnaround time for the pad. This flight marks the 159th orbital launch from this pad for SpaceX.
Tail number 1077, the first-stage booster utilized for the launch, took off on its ninth flight as part of this mission. Two notable prior launches are GPS 3 Space Vehicle 06 and Crew-5.
After taking off, it took around eight and a half minutes to land on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions. With the 23 satellites on board, 1,871 will have been deployed in total in 2023.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, said that the company is “tracking to launch over 80 percent of all Earth payload to orbit this year” in an infographic he reposted from analytics firm BryceTech. According to its Q3 report, SpaceX was responsible for 26 of the 63 orbital launches that took place worldwide.
To put it another way, SpaceX has launched far more people into space than all other countries put together. In Q3, it launched 519 spacecraft as opposed to the next closest spacecraft, 24 launched by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Musk frequently brings up the statistic of spacecraft upmass to orbit, which he cited from BryceTech. According to that figure, SpaceX launched 381,278 kg into orbit in Q3, with CASC following closely behind with 24,560 kg and Roscosmos with 17,475 kg.
Meanwhile, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A are working toward what would probably be that pad’s final launch in 2023. In preparation for attaching the X-37B spacecraft to the rocket, the Falcon Heavy assisting the USSF-52 mission rolled back into the nearby hangar on Tuesday night.
Dec. 10 is still the intended launch date for the eighth Falcon Heavy to date.
SpaceX completed a static fire test of the Falcon Heavy on the first weekend of December, which came after two Falcon 9 flights from Florida and California. Seven days before the scheduled launch of a five-year-old national security operation, the 27 Merlin engines were set to ignite.
The USSF-52 mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than Sunday, December 10, according to the U.S. Space Systems Command. Public announcements about the launch window have not been made. For the covert X-37B spaceplane project of the US military, it will be the first launch by the Falcon Heavy. It will be the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle’s seventh flight and the eighth Falcon Heavy launch overall.
This will be the sixth mission for the Assured Access to Space (AATS) Directorate in 2023, according to U.S. Space Systems Command:
NROL-68 – June 21 USSF-67 – January 15 GPS III–6 – January 18
NROL-107 – September 10
USSF-52 – December 10th, Net
According to a statement from Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, Program Executive Officer for AATS and Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, “Our national security space launches transport our most important capabilities into orbit.” “Our launch service providers and our team work closely together, and our main goal is to complete the mission successfully.”
As part of the Phase 1A National Security Space Launch (NSSL) procurement, SpaceX was given the launch contract. According to SSC, this mission’s launch contract with SpaceX is worth approximately $155 million. It will use side boosters that are making their sixth flight.
Our collaborations with other governmental organizations and commercially generated innovations are extremely beneficial to us,” stated Dr. Walt Lauderdale, SSC’s Mission Director and lead for Falcon Systems and Operations, in a release. Considering the recent increase in launch tempo, we can see that our SOP—which provides us with the necessary capacity and throughput to serve future national security space requirements—is one of adapting to change.
Officials from SpaceX and NASA stated that the boosters will be utilized for the sixth and last time to launch NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to the moon of Jupiter in October 2024 after they have been recovered.
The pad at LC-39A will be converted back to a Falcon 9 configuration after the mid-month launch of the Falcon Heavy to get ready for the launch of a Nova-C lunar lander as part of the Intuitive Machines and NASA mission, IM-1, which is traveling to the Moon’s South Pole.
