Welcome to the FLORIDA TODAY live coverage of the Starlink 12-21 mission!
After yet another delay Monday night — this time, due to weather — SpaceX is tentatively targeting 11:48 p.m. tonight for the Starlink 12-21 mission.
SpaceX has confirmed its planned launch attempt at 11:48 p.m. Tuesday. Opportunities to launch exist until 12:10 a.m.. If the Falcon 9 launches, this would not only be the 21st orbital launch of the year for Florida’s Space Coast but also a return to flight for Falcon 9 after last week’s landing mishap on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
It’s been over a week since a post-landing fire destroyed the Falcon 9 first-stage booster after an otherwise successful launch. The Federal Aviation Administration approved SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 launches two days after the incident and the day before the burned remains of the booster — which caught fire upon landing — were brought into Port Canaveral.
According to a NASA Crew-10 press briefing, SpaceX quickly got to work removing the engine and investigating the fire. This mishap not only caused delays with the Starlink launches from Cape Canaveral, but the launch of NASA’s SPHEREx mission from Vandenburg Space Force Base, CA. SPHEREx was supposed to launch Monday evening as well, but was scrubbed due to a spacecraft issue and weather.
Liftoff will be from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. The mission is known as Starlink 12-21. The payload is the next batch of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites.
As it flies into the night sky, the rocket will travel southeast from the launch pad.
When is the next launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
The only sound heard will be the rumble of the Falcon 9’s nine engines as it heads to orbit. No sonic booms will be heard in Central Florida, as the first-stage booster will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship, which will be waiting in the Atlantic Ocean.
Next up on the horizon after this launch is the Crew-10 flight to the International Space Station, tentatively set for 7:48 p.m. Wednesday from KSC’s Launch Pad 39A.
SpaceX rocket launches from Florida
Update 10:28 p.m.: SpaceX is still targeting 11:48 p.m. to launch the Starlink 12-21 mission from SLC-40.
Meanwhile, NASA has polled “Go” for launch of Crew-10 tomorrow evening. Liftoff is set for no earlier than 7:48 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12 from KSC Pad 39A. Crew-10 is the next rotation of four space travelers flying to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
SpaceX rocket launch from Florida
Update 10:15 p.m.: SpaceX is targeting 11:48 p.m. to launch the Starlink 12-21 mission. Will tonight be the night this mission finally lifts off?
Meanwhile, in Vandenberg, CA, SpaceX is seeking another try at the NASA SPHEREx and PUNCH mission tonight. Could we see two launches finally lift off tonight?
Both have long been delayed due to Falcon 9 checkouts, spacecraft issues, and weather.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Live updates: SpaceX launch from Florida now set for Tuesday night
