Two rocket launches carrying satellites by SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are scheduled for Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Central Florida.
SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 40 at 4:36 a.m. ET. The launch window is four hours. This is the 22nd flight of the first stage, which is scheduled to land on the A ShortFall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, SpaceX reports.
At 8:09 AM, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 41 carrying 27 satellites, which will be placed into low Earth orbit. The launch window is 29 minutes, ULA announced. The satellites are intended for the Amazon Kuiper constellation project, “to provide fast and reliable internet to customers around the world, including in unserved and underserved areas,” the company stated.
According to the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron, the probability of a successful launch for both launches is 90%.
Atlas V's 205-foot altitude, it will be visible from much of Florida and other neighboring states, depending on the weather.
ULA launched two more satellite payloads for Amazon: on April 28 and June 23.
Two private companies operate fundamentally different satellites above the Earth.
According to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Starlink has 8,460 operational satellites.
After Thursday's launch, Project Kuiper will carry 129 satellites, though the planned launch target is 3,200, using eight Atlas V and 38 Vulcan rockets. ULA is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, established in 2006.
SpaceX also plans to launch 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Military Base in California on Thursday at 6:47 p.m. PT.
On Wednesday morning, SpaceX launched three spacecraft, each designed to study the Sun and space weather, as well as their impact on Earth. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida around 7:30 a.m. ET.
Sourse: www.upi.com
