Will the rainy, cloud-generating consequences of Invest 90L stop SpaceX from launching a Falcon 9 rocket for the second day in a row?
Stay tuned. Welcome to the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team’s live coverage of tonight’s Starlink 10-2 mission from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX has already postponed its launch time twice. New target time: 8:14 PM EDT, or 3½ hours later than originally scheduled. If necessary, backup options remain available only until 8:30 PM.
SpaceX abandoned its first launch attempt on Wednesday as thick clouds and showers enveloped the Cape. Today, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron estimated the chance of favorable weather throughout the launch window at just 25%, warning of anvil clouds, cumulus clouds and surface electric fields.
No sonic booms are expected in Central Florida. After flying skyward along a northeasterly trajectory, the Falcon 9 will deploy a number of Starlink internet satellites packed into the fairing atop the 70-meter rocket. The first stage booster will land at sea aboard a SpaceX drone ship 8½ minutes after takeoff.
When SpaceX’s live webcast, hosted on X (formerly Twitter), becomes available approximately five minutes before launch, it will be placed under the countdown clock.
Clouds disappear over Cape Canaveral
Update 6:08 PM: This radar loop from the National Weather Service shows clouds disappearing over the Cape Canaveral Space Station and neighboring NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX pushes out the launch for the second time
Update 5:24 PM: SpaceX is now targeting 8:14 PM for launch.
The radar shows storms just west of the Cape
Update 4:46 PM: The National Weather Service’s special weather statement has been extended until 5:15 p.m. and the affected area now extends north to the town of Cape Canaveral.
This NWS radar loop shows this slow-moving area of nasty, stormy weather.
Bad launch weather near the Cape
Update 4:17 PM: Gloomy weather reports continue to come in from National Weather Service forecasters at the Melbourne Orlando International Airport station.
This time, a special weather warning for winds of 40 miles per hour has been issued for the Merritt Island-Rockledge-Cocoa-Port St. John area, just west of the spaceport, until 4:45 p.m.
Preparations for the SpaceX launch are underway in Brevard
Update 3:56 PM: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency’s launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
Poor launch weather continues at Cape
Update 3:34 PM: The National Weather Service has extended its special weather statement until 4:15 p.m. — which is a key indicator of why SpaceX pushed back its original launch target time of 4:46 p.m.
Wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible from Christmas and eastern Orange County to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Titusville and points extending north of Mims.
SpaceX delays the launch by an hour and a half
Update 3:21 PM: SpaceX just announced that its new target launch time is 6:10 p.m
SpaceX launch: all eyes on the weather
Update 3:15 PM: After yesterday’s postponement, many spectators of the launch will keep their eyes peeled for the weather reports this afternoon.
A National Weather Service special weather statement remains in effect until 3:30 p.m. for a large area stretching from the Christmas area eastward to KSC, Titusville and pointing north.
Meteorologists warn of wind gusts of up to 60 kilometers per hour.
For the latest news and launch schedule, visit Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale atRneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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