SpaceX to launch European TV satellite on Wednesday after wind delay

Mike Wall
·2 min read
A black and yellow satellite is seen between the two halves of its rocket's payload fairing inside a white-walled building.
SES' Astra 1P satellite is seen before encapsulation inside the payload fairing of its SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite is scheduled to launch on June 18, 2024. | Credit: SES/SpaceX

SpaceX will wait another day to launch a European TV satellite into orbit.

A Falcon 9 rocket is now scheduled to launch Luxembourg-based telecom company SES' Astra 1P satellite from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday (June 19) during a nearly three-hour window that opens at 5:25 p.m. EDT (2125 GMT).  The liftoff had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, but elevated winds at the launch site forced SpaceX to stand down.

SpaceX will webcast the launch (when it goes) via its X account.

The Falcon 9's first stage will come down for a landing after launching Astra 1P. It will touch down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the droneship called "Just Read the Instructions," which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It will be the ninth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, will deliver Astra 1P to geosynchronous transfer orbit about 35 minutes after launch. The satellite will then make its own way to geostationary orbit, 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth. After a checkout period, Astra 1P will provide TV broadcasting service to customers throughout Europe. (Astra 1P has nothing to do with the American spaceflight company Astra, by the way; SES chose "Astra" as the name of one of its satellite families.)

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The Astra 1P launch will be SpaceX's 62nd orbital launch of the year. Mission number 61, a Starlink satellite launch from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California, lifted off on Tuesday evening (June 18).