File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX’s most flown Falcon 9 rocket booster is being prepped for flight once again. This will be its 33rd mission as the company works to certify its boosters for up to 40 flights each.
The Starlink 6-104 mission will add another 28 broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s growing low Earth orbit constellation of more than 9,700 satellites.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 10:47 p.m. EST (0347 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance for favorable weather during liftoff, citing no specific meteorological concerns.
The upcoming 33rd flight of Falcon 9 booster 1067 comes about 2.5 months after its previous launch in early December. Its previous missions include four flights for NASA, the European Commission’s Galileo L13, and 20 batches of Starlink satellites.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1067 will target a landing on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. If successful, this will be the 143rd landing on this vessel and the 575th booster landing to date for SpaceX.