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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands atop Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, moments after an abort was called due to a problem with the booster’s stage separation system on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. SpaceX will try again to launch the Falcon 9 with 23 Starlink satellites on Monday, Oct. 30.
(Image credit: SpaceX (via X.com))
Editor’s note: SpaceX called an abort on its first launch attempt on Sunday (Oct. 29), after detecting an issue with the Falcon 9 rocket’s stage separation system. The company intends to try again on Monday (Oct. 30).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch 23 Starlink internet satellites on Monday (Oct. 30), on its second attempt after an abort.
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday (Oct. 30) at 7:20 p.m. EDT (2320 GMT). If the Falcon 9 can’t get off the ground on time, seven backup opportunities are available, from 7:52 p.m. EDT to 10:22 p.m. EDT (2352 to 0222 GMT on Oct. 30), according to a SpaceX mission description.
You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Coverage will start about five minutes before liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be the eighth launch and landing for this rocket’s first stage, according to the mission description.
The 23 Starlink satellites will deploy from the Falcon 9’s upper stage into low Earth orbit about 65.5 minutes after liftoff, if all goes according to plan.
Starlink is SpaceX’s broadband megaconstellation, which beams internet service down to customers around the world. SpaceX has launched more than 5,000 Starlink satellites to LEO to date, and many more liftoffs are coming: The company has permission to deploy 12,000 of the spacecraft, and it has applied for approval for another 30,000 on top of that.
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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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