SpaceX aims to notch another milestone in spaceflight reusability Wednesday night when it will not only launch its a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket booster for the 350th time in program history, but also attempt the 300th successful booster landing.
The Starlink 9-14 mission is targeting a liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:05 p.m. PST (10:05 p.m. EST, 0305 UTC). However, in announcing the mission on its website though, SpaceX just broadly said, “The four-hour launch window opens at 4:06 p.m. PT.”
For the third time in as many launches from California, SpaceX left the public in the dark as to whether or not the launch will be viewable via livestream. When it published details of the launch on its website Wednesday afternoon, it didn’t include a link to a webcast, nor did it mention the mission on social media.
By contrast, SpaceX simultaneously published a launch page for the planned launch of SiriusXM’s SXM-9 satellite, which will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center late Thursday morning. Not only did SpaceX include a link to the livestream for the SXM-9 mission, but it also posted to its X account announcing the launch. The Starlink 6-70 mission which launched from Cape Canaveral earlier Wednesday also had a webcast of liftoff that was announced in advance.
SpaceX did end up live streaming the two previous ascents from Vanenberg Space Force Base, NROL-126 and Starlink 9-13. However, in both cases, a live stream popped up well after the rockets had left the launch pad.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster for the Starlink 9-14 mission, with the tailnumber B1081, is launching for a 12th time. It previously supported the launches of two missions to the International Space Station (Crew-7 and CRS-29), two climate-monitoring spacecraft (PACE and EarthCARE) and five previous Starlink missions.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1081 will aim to complete the 300th successful droneship landing when it touches down on ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This will be the 379th overall booster landing for SpaceX, if successful.
Onboard the mission are 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, including 13 that feature Direct to Cell capabilities. With this mission, SpaceX will have launched 349 DTC Starlink satellites since the first such launch on January 2.
In late November, SpaceX received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to begin rolling out cellular service alongside its domestic telecom partner, T-Mobile.
Thank you to @NASA , @NTIAgov , @NSF , for their coordination work with us, and all of our telco partners, especially @TMobile !
We hope to activate employee beta service in the US soon.
— Ben Longmier (@longmier) November 26, 2024
The FCC allowed SpaceX to use its previously authorized up to 7,500 second generation Starlink satellites using the V-band frequency from 340 km to 360 km.
“SpaceX is authorized to communicate with these satellites in the previously authorized Ku-, Ka-, E-, and V-band frequencies, in conformance with the technical specifications SpaceX has provided to the Commission, the conditions previously placed on its authorizations, and the conditions we adopt today,” the FCC wrote in a Nov. 26 filing.
“Authorization to permit SpaceX to operate up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites in lower altitude shells will enable SpaceX to begin providing lower-latency satellite service to support growing demand in rural and remote areas that lack terrestrial wireless service options.16 This partial grant also strikes the right balance between allowing SpaceX’s operations at lower altitudes to provide low-latency satellite service and permitting the Commission to continue to monitor SpaceX’s constellation and evaluate issues previously raised on the record.”
