SpaceX is preparing for its latest Falcon 9 launch to add more Starlink satellites to its growing mega-constellation.
The midnight hour launch features 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, 13 of which have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-5 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
Coming into the launch opportunity on Sunday, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast that there won’t be any weather constraints to launch. It’s outlook suggests a greater than 95 percent chance of good weather at liftoff with no listed weather constraints.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission will launch for a second time after previously launching as a Falcon Heavy side booster on the GOES-U mission. However, SpaceX didn’t differentiate between the two potential boosters and note whether this is B1072 or B1086.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the booster will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ If successful, this will be the 89th booster landing on ASOG and the 381st booster landing to date.
With the most recent launch of DTC Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Dec. 5, SpaceX announced that it completed its first orbital shell for that part of the constellation. As of that payload deployment, SpaceX had launched 362 DTC Starlink satellites.
The first Starlink satellite direct to cell phone constellation is now complete.
This will enable unmodified cellphones to have Internet connectivity in remote areas.
Bandwidth per beam is only ~10Mb, but future constellations will be much more capable. https://t.co/wJHMGEzzE4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2024
