• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • SmallSat Europe Insights
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

SpaceX dramatic scrub as engines ignite for Flag Day Starlink fourth attempt at launch

June 14, 2024

Abort! as engines have ignited and clamps are released
Photo captured on Friday, June 14, by Satnews from SpaceX’s video stream.

“Standing down from today’s Falcon 9 launch. A new target launch date will be shared once available.”
Still no public announcement on why the rocket’s launch process halted quickly after engines ignited.

SpaceX is targeting a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A target launch date will be shared once available.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX hopes better weather for Flag Day Starlink launch of 22 smallsats

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-14-at-12.24.04-PM.png

“SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 4:35 p.m. ET with opportunities available until 8:19 p.m. ET.”

Originally the SpaceX launch of 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites that were to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast was set for June 12. That was scrubbed and rolled over to June 13, and now, due to inclimate Florida weather again, Thursday is scrubbed and is tentatively planned for Friday, June 14, Flag Day.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-14-at-12.14.31-PM.png
Mission: Exploit the weather to assure safe access to air and space.

This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 45th Weather Squadron is forecasting a 95% chance of creating a Range Violation Thursday, meaning a mere 5% chance of acceptable conditions throughout the launch window. On Thursday, conditions improve slightly: 15% “Go”, with an 85%” Probability of Violation.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-14-at-12.13.15-PM-844x1024.png

In their discussion, the 45th Weather Squadron states, “Daytime heating and the presence of the boundary will once again kick off numerous showers and storms by mid Friday afternoon with the exact location of activity dependent on how much north-northeasterly flow we see behind the boundary. Models continue to show the tendency for any activity to be inland of the Spaceport, especially heading further into the launch window. Anvil level flow will still be out of the west-northwest, though less robust than this evening, meaning that even with activity to the southwest anvil may still reach the Spaceport and these will remain the primary concern.”

Anvils are of course thunderclouds — they may or may not produce rain and/or thunder and lightning, but they do have enormous potential energy — and rockets are well known to create lightning strikes. That in mind, the 45th and launch providers won’t launch if one is within a given distance of the launch pad. The risk of a lightning bolt creating a bad day is too high.

SpaceX’s bad hat trick of three scrubs in a row as Thursday’s launch was called due to weather again

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-13-at-5.45.15-PM.png

Originally the SpaceX launch of 22 more of its Starlink broadband satellites that were to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast was set for June 12. That was scrubbed and rolled over to June 13, and now, due to inclimate Florida weather again, Thursday is scrubbed and is tentatively planned for Friday, June 14, Flag Day.

“SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 4:35 p.m. ET with opportunities available until 8:19 p.m. ET.”

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-07-at-6.56.16-PM.png

Photo captured on Friday, June 7, by Satnews from SpaceX’s video stream.

SpaceX scrubbed Wednesday’s launch and will attempt on Thursday batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after a scrub on Wednesday. The delay is due to weather conditions that remained ‘poor’. Tropical downpours deluged Florida and a possibility of 4-6 inches in some Central Florida areas.

This next liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket is now scheduled for 4:46 p.m. at Space Launch Complex 40.

The forecast noted that the storms will be keeping things wet and unsettled through the remainder of the week with perhaps another scrub on Thursday.

The first-stage booster being used in the mission will make its 16th flight, having previously gone up with Bandwagon-1, CRS-27, Amazonas-6 and 10 Starlink launches among others, SpaceX said.

SpaceX Starlink to launch smallsats Wednesday

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2024-06-05-at-11.36.52-PM.png
Photo captured on Tuesday, June 4, by Satnews from SpaceX’s video stream.

Wednesday, June 12, 2:08 PM – 6:36 PM PDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX will launch a batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.

Space Launch Complex 40 has launched 247 rockets, including 247 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been the site for 959 rocket launches.

SpaceX will add Starlink v2 Mini satellites to the Starlink constellation with the second batch of Group 10 satellites to orbit.

The booster will land on one of SpaceX’s two autonomous droneships approximately 600 km downrange. Neither the booster nor the support vessels are known at this time.

Filed Under: Booster, Booster Recovery, Cape Canaveral SFS, Droneship, Falcon 9, smallsats, SpaceX, Starlink Tagged With: Featured

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • In celebration of Juneteenth
  • Wishing Everyone a Happy July 4th … Independence Day, U.S.A.
  • Eutelsat's efforts to obtain funding to save OneWeb
  • Forrester's Digest: Starlink active in Iran
  • Startical launches the firm's 2nd demo satellite — IOD-2

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!