SpaceX is preparing to kick off a busy launch week that features flights from all four of its launch pads between California, Florida and Texas. Assuming no launch slips, it will launch three Falcon 9 rockets and the seventh flight of its Starship-Super Heavy rocket.
First up is the Starlink 12-4 mission, which is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is targeting 10:08 a.m. EST (1508 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
Heading into the launch opportunity, the 45th Weather squadron forecast a 75 percent chance of favorable weather for both the primary launch window on Monday and the 24-hour backup opportunity. Both days feature concerns from thick clouds, but where Monday faces impacts from cumulus clouds as well, Tuesday will be impacted by liftoff winds.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting the mission, tail number B1080 in the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a 15th time. It previously supported the launches of the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft, four missions to the International Space Station and eight Starlink flights.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1080 will attempt to land on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ If successful, it will mark the 94th booster landing and the 396th booster landing to date.
A day after launching the Starlink 12-4 mission, SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with dozens of satellites on board. That mission will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Next up, back in Florida, a dual-lunar landing mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 UTC) on Wednesday, Jan. 15, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Later that day, SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Starship Flight 7 mission, where it will attempt to once again catch the Super Heavy booster at the launch tower.
