Sunny rocket launch: SpaceX Starlink mission sails Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Rick Neale, Florida Today
·2 min read

SpaceX's rocket launch webcast unexpectedly dropped offline for Space Coast viewers soon after liftoff. And brilliant sunshine thwarted many Central Floridians from seeing Wednesday's 5:26 p.m. launch from outside Brevard County.

But a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivered another 23 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to the company's ever-expanding global constellation.

"Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency internet is now available in Albania!" company officials announced last week in a tweet.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

Wednesday's Starlink 6-51 mission bolted into orbit from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The mission marked the 12th flight for the Falcon 9 first-stage booster, SpaceX reported. This booster previously logged the following flights: Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20 and five Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, the booster landed atop the drone ship Just Read the Instructions out on the Atlantic Ocean, SpaceX announced in a tweet after the webcast dropped offline.

Cocoa Beach spectators watch SpaceX send a Falcon 9 rocket skyward Wednesday from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Cocoa Beach spectators watch SpaceX send a Falcon 9 rocket skyward Wednesday from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

Next, the second half of this SpaceX back-to-back launch doubleheader should kick off in just more than 24 hours. Federal Aviation Administration and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warnings indicate a rocket launch window will open Thursday night:

  • Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another payload of Starlink internet satellites.

  • Launch window: 6:40 p.m. to 11:11 p.m.

  • Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

  • Trajectory: Southeast.

  • Local sonic boom: No.

  • Booster landing: Drone ship out on the Atlantic Ocean.

  • Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.

Wednesday's SpaceX Starlink 6-51 mission, as seen from Viera.
Wednesday's SpaceX Starlink 6-51 mission, as seen from Viera.

For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Starlink rocket flies Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center

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