Live coverage: SpaceX poised for first launch of 2022
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 49 Starlink broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
SpaceX’s first launch of 2022 is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Jan. 6, when a Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift off with 49 more Starlink internet satellites.
Launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is set for 4:49 p.m. EST (2149 GMT), and the Falcon 9 will track southeast from Florida’s Space Coast just north of the Bahamas, rather than the more typical northeasterly route to orbit.
We will provide live coverage of the countdown and launch beginning at 3:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT).
This will be SpaceX’s first launch of the year, following a record launch rate in 2021 with 31 Falcon 9 missions from the company’s three active launch pads in Florida and California.
The mission, designated Starlink 4-5, will aim to release the 49 Starlink satellites into an elliptical orbit about 15 minutes after liftoff. The Falcon 9 will fly with a reused first stage booster, numbered B1062, flying on its fourth mission to space.
Read our mission preview story for details.
ROCKET: Falcon 9 (B1062.4)
PAYLOAD: 49 Starlink satelllites
LAUNCH SITE: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
LAUNCH DATE: Jan. 6, 2022
LAUNCH TIME: 4:49 p.m. EST (2149 GMT)
WEATHER FORECAST: 80% probability of acceptable weather
BOOSTER RECOVERY: “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship north of the Bahamas
LAUNCH AZIMUTH: Southeast
TARGET ORBIT: 210 miles by 130 miles (339 kilometers by 210 kilometers), 53.2 degrees inclination
LAUNCH TIMELINE:
MISSION STATS:
Source: Space
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