Offt. Double, vision30 Aug 2020 07:20
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is preparing for a potential launch doubleheader on Sunday (Aug. 30), and you can watch the action live online.
On Sunday morning, the company’s Starlink internet megaconstellation is expected to grow as SpaceX plans to launch an additional 60 satellites into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Just nine hours later, a different Falcon 9 is slated to deliver the Argentinian satellite SAOCOM-1B into a polar orbit, marking the first such mission to fly from the Cape since the 1960s.
The Starlink mission is scheduled to launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 10:12 a.m. EDT (1412 GMT). SAOCOM-1B will fly from SpaceX’s other Florida launch pad, at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That liftoff is scheduled for 7:18 p.m. EDT (2318 GMT).
You can watch both launches live here at Space.com and on our homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before liftoff. You'll also be able to watch the launches directly from SpaceX.
The launch doubleheader is contingent upon a couple of factors. First, the weather needs to cooperate, and summertime in Florida can be tricky. The most recent weather reports issued by the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron do not look terribly promising, with a 50% chance of favorable conditions for Starlink and only a 40% chance of favorable conditions for SAOCOM-1B.
SpaceX also needs to get launch approvals from the Eastern Range, the entity that oversees all launch operations on the East Coast.