On Friday, October 18 at 7:13 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 20 Starlink Group 8-19 satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Space Launch Complex 40 has witnessed the launch of 266 rockets, including 266 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, has been the site for 980 rocket launches.
The weather forecast had been questionable with a report:
According to weather officials, there’s a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch.
This is the 17th flight for the first stage booster, Booster B1076, which last launched on October 18, and has seen 17 successful launches and landings. Booster first launched the CRS-26 mission. supporting this mission, which previously launched O3b mPOWER, OneWeb 2, Intelsat 40e, Maxar 2, Turksat-6A, Eutelsat 36X, Ovzon-3, CRS-26, and now nine Starlink missions.
Third (Marmac 303) ASDS barge, Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) is currently used to recover Falcon 9 and Heavy boosters in the Altantic Ocean.
SpaceX Starlink Group 8-19 smallsats set for Friday launch
Reliable high-speed internet designed to keep businesses connected
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch a batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation on Friday, October 18 at 4:31 PM PDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral SFS. The complex has witnessed the launch of 265 rockets, including 265 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral, has been the site for 979 rocket launches. The launch cost is $52,000,000.
According to weather officials, there’s a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch. The forecast calls for a temperature of 75°F, overcast clouds, 100% cloud cover and a wind speed of 20mph.
“Strong onshore flow will continue through the weekend as the high pressure across the eastern U.S. will persist. Moisture will be slow to return, but some isolated onshore-moving showers are possible by the backup day,” meteorologists said. “The primary concern remains Liftoff Winds with the addition of the Cumulus Cloud Rule for Saturday.”
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will land on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch was delayed from October 17.