Cape weather looks good early Monday for a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
The next Space Coast launch may wake up some residents early Monday morning, as a SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station between 2:40 a.m. and 5:22 a.m. EDT.
Weather conditions around the Cape's Launch Complex 40 are expected to be mostly favorable for the pre-dawn launch of another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit. After flying a southeasterly trajectory the booster will target a drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean which means no local sonic booms with this launch.
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Space Force forecasters calculated an 85% chance of "go" conditions during the nearly three-hour launch window for the early morning weekend liftoff.
"Over the weekend, afternoon shower and storm activity will diminish by the evening hours, then offshore showers will develop over the Gulf Stream overnight due to the offshore flow," forecasters said in a report Friday. "The timing of the launch window is favorable in this setup, as most of the activity is expected to stay over the Atlantic waters."
According to forecasters, the main concern on Monday is a slim chance of cumulus clouds that can produce showers and lightning, but most of the activity is not expected to impact launch procedures. Recovery conditions for the booster landing on a drone ship stationed off the coast of the Bahamas coast were listed as "low risk."
Forecasters predicted similar conditions during the backup launch opportunity around the same time 24 hours later on Tuesday, June 13. "The backup day looks very similar to the primary day, with continued westerly flow keeping most of the shower activity offshore overnight," forecasters said Friday.
Tucked safely inside the Falcon 9 nosecone is another batch of the company's flat-pack Starlink satellites that deliver high-speed internet services to more than one million subscribers around the globe.
In the U.S., residential Starlink internet service starts at $120 for residential customers after an initial $599 hardware fee. With more than 4,500 satellites launched since 2016, SpaceX does not intend to slow its pace any time soon.
Since the satellites are built for a lifespan of only about five years SpaceX anticipates regular Starlink launches for the foreseeable future. Regular replacement is necessary to continue service when older units become inoperable and burn up in the atmosphere due to orbital decay.
Tens of thousands of spacecraft are needed to fill out the company's global constellation, which is intended to provide in-motion connectivity to planes, boats, and recreational vehicles and support residential and government customers on every continent.
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