In a hard-to-believe rapid-fire scheduling sequence, two Cape Canaveral launch companies should launch three rockets within a brief 6½-hour to 14½-hour overnight span extending from Sunday, Dec. 14, into Monday, Dec. 15.
Kicking off the tripleheader, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off on a Starlink satellite mission between 9:43 p.m. Sunday and 1:43 a.m. Monday from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Shortly afterward, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket equipped with five solid rocket boosters will launch a batch of Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit between 3:49 a.m. and 4:18 a.m. Monday from Launch Complex 41 at the Space Force installation.
Finally, SpaceX has lined up another Starlink mission between 8:11 a.m. to 12:11 p.m. Monday. That Falcon 9 will launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The shortest possible time across those three launch windows is six hours, 28 minutes. The longest possible time is 14 hours, 28 minutes.
For live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team launch coverage of all three missions, visit floridatoday.com/space starting about 90 minutes before each launch window opens.
The SpaceX-ULA-SpaceX trio are slated as the 107th, 108th and 109th orbital rocket launches of the year from Florida’s Space Coast, further erasing the former record of 93 liftoffs.
“We talk about this huge increase. We’re like, ‘why the increase,’ right?” Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX Vice President of Launch, said during a Spacepower Conference panel discussion last month at Hilton Orlando.
“So the first (reason) is the demand. The demand comes from proliferation of large constellations in low-Earth orbit that are commercial from a communication perspective,” Dontchev said.
Looking ahead to next week, SpaceX has another Starlink mission lined up for Friday, Dec. 19. More details:
- Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch 29 Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit.
- Launch window: 12 a.m. to 3:17 a.m.
- Trajectory: Southeast.
- Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Sonic booms: No.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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