The Friday launch of Starlink Group 11-18 smallsats ended up on a foggy Saturday, May 31 at 1:10 p.m. PT, when Falcon 9 launched 27 Starlink smallsats to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The smallsats will continue to help build the Starlink constellation. Photos by Satnews.
This was the 25th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, and now 15 Starlink missions.
SpaceX’s Friday has 2 launches Starlink Group 11-18 and GPS III
Friday proves to be a busy day for SpaceX with a secret military GPS launch from NASA’s Kennedy in Florida; and from Vandenberg in California, Starlink Group 11-18 will send 27 smallsats to add to the Starlink constellation.
The forecast for Calfornia’s Group 11-18 launch calls for a temperature of 65° F, scattered clouds, 34% cloud cover and a wind speed of 9 mph.
The forecast for the Florida GPS III indicates a 45 % chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch. Officials are monitoring weather conditions with concerns related to Cumulus Cloud Rule, Surface Electric Fields Rule. The forecast calls for a temperature of 86° F, scattered clouds, 30 % cloud cover and a wind speed of 13 mph.
This program will improve position, navigation, and timing services for warfighter and civilian users worldwide. Using spot beam capability for enhanced military (M-Code) coverage will provide increased resistance to hostile jamming and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities.
When fully deployed, the GPS III constellation will feature a cross-linked command and control architecture, allowing the entire GPS constellation to be updated simultaneously from a single ground station.