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A SpaceX Falcon nine rocket ran in the opposite direction at dawn early Wednesday, putting dozens of web satellites into orbit from Kennedy Space Center just as the first sunlight was beginning to intensify.
6:59 p. m. The EDT’s liftoff from Pad 39A, the first of two consecutive launches this week, marked the 48th project of SpaceX’s constellation of Starlink satellites that transmit connectivity to the ground. The 53 satellites packed into the payload fairing will spend the next few weeks slowly raising their orbit to a final destination about 350 miles above Earth.
After a flight to the northeast, the first level of the rocket also successfully landed on the Shortfall of Gravitas drone. SpaceX has recovered thrusters 121 times since the first in December 2015.
If it can keep up with the current pace, SpaceX could have just 3,000 operational Starlink satellites in orbit before the end of the year.
Also: What in heaven? SpaceX rocket launch creates ‘space jellyfish’
Meanwhile, near the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is expected to propel Boeing’s Starliner capsule in an unmanned project to the International Space Station. The launch complex is scheduled to take off on Thursday at 6:54 p. m. EDT.
If it flies on time, it will mean there will be 36 hours between the SpaceX and ULA missions.
Thursday’s flight marks the moment of demonstration of Starliner, one of two pills chosen by NASA to take astronauts to the ISS after the space shuttle program was withdrawn in 2011. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule was also chosen.
Starliner’s flight is a revival of a December 2019 attempt that was unsuccessful on the ISS due to a combination of software and hardware issues. Boeing has opted out of pocket for a momentary demonstration mission, known as Orbital Flight Test 2, which may pave the way for astronauts to fly the capsule for the first time this year or early next year.
The weather for Atlas V’s liftoff, according to a Space Force forecast released Wednesday, is expected to be around 70 “go. “
For the latest information, floridatoday. com/launchschedule.
Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday. com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on @EmreKelly.
This article made the impression on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket runs until dawn to launch Starlink Internet satellites