SpaceX's late Monday night launch and landing clears way for Falcon Heavy later this week
---
Update: SpaceX's next launch, a Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center, is now targeted to occur no earlier than Saturday, January 14.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station hosted a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and booster landing for the second time in under a week on Monday night. At 11:50 p.m. ET, a Falcon 9 vaulted from Pad 40 carrying 40 satellites to orbit for OneWeb, a competitor to SpaceX in the satellite internet industry.
A little over eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster returned to the Cape's Landing Zone 1 for a landing that generated window-rattling sonic booms over Central Florida for a second time this month. The spacecraft, meanwhile, continued on a southerly trajectory skirting the coast of Florida.
OneWeb says its network, to be comprised of about 600 satellites, is aimed more toward heavy users like telecom providers, aviation and maritime industries, and governments. SpaceX's Starlink network stands at roughly 3,500 deployed satellites and is intended for broad usage ranging from residential to aircraft and recreational vehicles to military purposes.
Monday's mission was only the second for OneWeb to be launched by SpaceX. Previous OneWeb missions were launched on Russian Soyuz rockets, but OneWeb cut its ties with Russia's space agency in March last year after Russia invaded Ukraine. To date, OneWeb has launched about 500 internet-beaming satellites built at the company's nearby factory on Merritt Island, Florida.
321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week
A unique mission: Celestis helps send human ashes to space
Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings
According to a OneWeb release, the mission marked OneWeb’s 16th overall launch and keeps "the company on track to deliver global coverage in 2023." According to a post made on the company's Twitter account, OneWeb has three more missions planned for the early months of the year.
If all proceeds as planned, Monday's launch and landing are just the first of the week from Florida for SpaceX.
The next launch from Florida's Space Coast is slated to be a three-core Falcon Heavy set to liftoff from Pad 39-A at nearby Kennedy Space Center. Although a launch date and time have not yet been released, that mission is targeted for liftoff on or around Thursday, January 12. It will loft the Space Force's USSF-67 mission, which includes classified defense payloads.
The Space Coast should prepare for dual sonic booms with two near-simultaneous Falcon 9 first-stage booster landings at the Cape's Landing Zones 1 and 2 for that mission. SpaceX has not yet confirmed whether or not an attempt will be made to also attempt a recovery of the core booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Follow Florida Today's live coverage of SpaceX's next Florida-based launch beginning 90 minutes before liftoff at https://www.floridatoday.com/space/.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.
Rocket launch Saturday, Jan. 14
Company / Agency: SpaceX for the Space Force
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon Heavy
Location: Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center
Launch Time: Afternoon/evening
Trajectory: East-Northeast
Weather: TBD
Landing: Cape Canaveral's Landing Zones 1 and 2
Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
About: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the Space Force's USSF-67 mission, which will include classified defense payloads. The branch selected Falcon Heavy under a more than $330 million contract.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 and 40 OneWeb satellites late Monday night
