Space Force: Poor weather for weekend SpaceX cargo launch to International Space Station
Update: Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon vessel at 11:47 a.m. EDT, Monday, June 5, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, followed by a booster landing on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a short time later.Read our full post-launch story here.
Update: Liftoff of Falcon 9 at 8:20 a.m. EDT with 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida! After a flight toward the southeast, the rocket's first stage also landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read our full post-launch story here.
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Stormy weather will likely continue into the weekend and could impact the SpaceX launch of a cargo mission to the International Space Station on Saturday, Space Force forecasters said this week.
If the forecast holds, a Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon capsule will face 30% "go" conditions for a resupply mission set to fly from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A. The instantaneous launch window, meaning the rocket must fly exactly on time or delay to another day, opens at 12:34 p.m. EDT.
"A complex pattern will be in place across the Florida peninsula to end the week with two areas of low pressure straddling the state in the eastern Gulf and Atlantic," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Thursday. "Deep tropical moisture lifted into the state will bring numerous showers and storms each day."
If the launch has to delay to Sunday, conditions look a bit better – 40% "go" during the instantaneous window.
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After liftoff and a flight toward the northeast, the rocket's first stage will target a drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Flying in Dragon are science experiments, food, supplies, and equipment for the 10-person crew currently on the ISS. In the capsule's "trunk" are new roll-out solar arrays that will help boost the station's power-producing capabilities.
If the mission, SpaceX's 28th under contract with NASA, launches on time, Dragon should arrive at the ISS at 5:36 a.m. EDT Monday, June 5.
Beyond Saturday's cargo mission, SpaceX is also expected to launch another Falcon 9 rocket, this time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, less than a day later on Sunday. If schedules and weather allow, the rocket will take the latest batch of Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 40 during a nearly four-hour window that opens at 5:48 a.m. EDT.
Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @EmreKelly.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Force: Poor weather for weekend SpaceX Dragon launch to ISS
