ETA: Deadlock broken. ULA’s Delta IV Heavy is scheduled for the 10th; SpaceX will launch SXM7 on the 11th.
If you have looked at the latest launch schedule and noticed that two different launches seem to be happening on the same day, and are wondering what’s up with that?
It’s okay. None of the rest of us know, either.
So, CRS-21 launched this morning from LC-39A, and the view from Playalinda Beach was glorious…
As I write this, it’s 12:37 a.m. on the morning of the fifth and we don’t know yet whether SpaceX’s CRS-21 is going to launch today (ETA: it isn’t; Sunday the 6th at 11:17 am local (GMT-5), instead) and yet already I’m looking past that, because the launch schedule ’round these parts nowadays is just weird.
So, yeah, it’s totally not like I’ve been busy with holiday stuffs and slacking on the rocket-ish things… Anyway, as of now there’s only a 40% chance that weather will allow it, with moderate risk of upper-level winds and high risk of bad recovery weather, but if the Fates are kind, SpaceX will be launching their Cargo Dragon to the ISS on its CRS-21 mission on a Falcon 9 from pad LC-39A on Saturday, December 5th at 11:39 a.m. local time (GMT-5).
12/3 ETA: Improving weather outlooks might? increase the PGO from 40% to a better number? Keep an ear to the wind with this one; don’t make any non-refundable travel plans just yet.
So if you were thinking, “gee, I really don’t feel like watching a rocket launch on Saturday night,” well, guess what? You are in luck, because SpaceX’s Starlink L15 launch has now slipped to Sunday, November 22 at 9:56 p.m. local time (GMT-5). Playalinda will be closed, so U.S. 1 in Titusville is probably the best option.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning the Crew-1 booster, B1061.1, returned to Port Canaveral aboard the drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) and apparently it was practicing its ballet moves while at sea, for it danced into port nearly en pointe, one landing leg right up against the edge of the ship with another raised up in the air, holding a truly spectacular pose. According to tweets by SpaceX executive meme-lord Elon Musk, this seemingly major alignment disorder is a relatively simple fix, and will not prevent the booster’s planned reuse for Crew-2, NASA/SpaceX’s next crewed launch. No word as yet on whether Musk and/or SpaceX will be funding B1061.1’s future dance training and potential career.
Stay tuned for further Space Coast updates!
Yeah, yeah, Crew-1 is awesome, but here on the Space Coast it’s always all about the next launch – which will be this Saturday, November 21, at 10:17 p.m. Nope! Sunday, November 22, at 9:56 p.m. local time (GMT-5), when SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites (designated V1.0-L15) aboard a Falcon 9 from pad SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral AFS.
Before that, however, we expect to see the SpaceX ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) arriving at Port Canaveral with the recovered first stage from the Crew-1 launch (B1061.1) some time tomorrow (Thursday, November 19)…
Falcon Heavy on pad LC-39A the day before its historic debut, poised for flight. Photo by Lupi.