SpaceX leap day launch sends Starlink satellites soaring skyward; Crew-8 delayed to Saturday

In a rare leap day launch, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket promptly vanished into hazy skies as viewed from vantage points across Brevard County soon after taking flight Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX's unusual 10:30 a.m. EST Starlink 6-40 morning-hour mission lifted 23 more internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit. After stage separation, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster landed aboard SpaceX's drone ship Just Read the Instructions out on the Atlantic Ocean, completing its 11th mission.

Next up at Cape Canaveral: NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 mission is now rescheduled for launch at 11:16 p.m. Saturday from pad 39A Kennedy Space Center. A NASA blog post published early Thursday morning explained why.

"Joint teams selected the updated launch opportunity due to unfavorable weather conditions forecast for Friday, March 1, in offshore areas along the flight track of the Dragon spacecraft. High wind and waves along the eastern seaboard have been observed and are forecast to continue through Saturday morning," the blog post said.

"In the unlikely case of an abort during launch or the flight of Dragon, the wind and wave conditions must be within acceptable conditions for the safe recovery of the crew and spacecraft," the post said.

Check out FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live coverage of the Crew-8 mission starting about 7:15 p.m. Saturday at floridatoday.com/space.

Crew-8: NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 prepares to launch, perform 200 science experiments aboard ISS

However, in an updated forecast issued Thursday afternoon, the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron cautioned that odds of "go for launch" weather conditions on Saturday night are only 40%.

"A weak surface boundary is settling across Central Florida today, bringing significant cloud cover, isolated rain showers, and occasionally gusty winds. This pattern will remain in place over the Space Coast and up through the ascent corridor for several days," the squadron's forecast said.

"The primary launch weather concern for a Saturday evening attempt will be isolated showers and thick clouds associated with the stalled boundary," the forecast said.

If the Falcon 9 launches on schedule, the Crew-8 astronauts aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule are expected to dock with the International Space Station about 2:10 p.m. Sunday.

Thursday's Starlink mission was the 13th orbital launch from the Space Force installation and neighboring NASA's Kennedy Space Center so far this year. The Space Coast hosted a record-breaking 72 launches last year.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and KSC, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Leap day liftoff: SpaceX Starlink launches as Crew-8 moved to Saturday