Falcon 9 Booster 1058 Prepares for Record-Breaking 19th Launch
Cape Canaveral, FL – SpaceX is gearing up for another historic milestone as the Falcon 9 first-stage booster, B1058, stands ready for its record-breaking 19th launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch, scheduled for just after midnight, will mark another step in the expansion of the company’s Starlink satellite constellation.
B1058, which first flew in May 2020 carrying astronauts for the first time on the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission, is already the fleet leader with 18 missions under its belt. The booster is set to cement its position with the Starlink 6-32 mission, delivering 23 satellites to orbit. It still features a faded NASA ‘worm’ logo from its historic Demo-2 mission.
Although the liftoff time was adjusted to 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 UTC), the rocket wasn’t hoisted upright at the launch pad until around 7:35 p.m. EST (0035 UTC). SpaceX has backup launch opportunities available until 3 a.m. EST (0800 UTC) Saturday morning.
The 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station reported a 60-70 percent chance of acceptable weather for launch, with the primary concerns being violations of the thick cloud layer and cumulus cloud rules.
As SpaceX continues to expand its Starlink internet service, the company revealed this week that it now has 2.3 million users in 70 countries. Since 2019, it has launched 5,604 satellites, with 5,226 remaining in orbit and 5,191 appearing to be working normally, according to statistics compiled by astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
Spaceflight Now will provide live coverage of the launch, and viewers can also tune into the Launch Pad Live stream for views of the rocket. After liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage will land on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ about eight and half minutes into the flight, with deployment of the second-generation Starlink satellites occurring about one hour and five minutes after launch.