Science |

SpaceX knocks out another overnight Starlink launch with crewed Axiom mission on tap for Sunday

SpaceX performed its third middle-of-the-night launch from the Space Coast in two weeks with a Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Friday while also gearing up for the crewed Axiom Space mission from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday.

First up after midnight was a Falcon 9 carrying 22 of its second-generation Starlink satellites that lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:19 a.m.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/c8hzT8pqnf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 19, 2023

The first-stage booster for this flight made its fifth launch with SpaceX once again recovering it on its droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas down range in the Atlantic Ocean.

This was the 86th overall Starlink launch since the first operational deployment of the internet satellites in 2019, and 17th dedicated Starlink mission so far in 2023. With this batch, SpaceX has sent up nearly 4,500 of the satellites, according to statistics tracked by astronomer Jonathan McDowell. The Federal Communications Commission last year upped SpaceX’s license to allow for up to 7,500.

SpaceX also has what will be only its second crewed launch of the year aiming for a Sunday liftoff from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:37 p.m.

A Falcon 9 launching the Crew Dragon Freedom is carrying four crew on commercial company Axiom Space’s second private mission to the International Space Station. Its passengers are Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, aviator John Shoffner and two astronauts from Saudi Arabia, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni.

Falcon 9 and Dragon roll out to the launch pad at 39A for @Axiom_Space’s Ax-2 mission pic.twitter.com/siaqMx9cps

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 18, 2023

NASA said it would only have two shots at the launch in May — Sunday and Monday — because of a busy schedule of other cargo and crew missions slated to go to the ISS as well as competing use of the KSC launch pad, the only pad for now capable of human launches from the Space Coast. If it can’t fly this week, the Axiom-2 mission will have to wait likely until at least August.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron predicts the best option will be Sunday with a 60% for favorable conditions, which drops to only 20% if delayed until Monday.

SpaceX rolled Falcon 9 with Dragon to the launch pad Thursday with a static fire slated for Friday.

Elon Musk’s company has now flown 32 missions among its three pads at Canaveral, KSC and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with 23 of them from the Space Coast.