Sunday weather OK for SpaceX Cape launch with minor FAA restrictions

admin June 18, 2023

2 2 minutes read

Sunday weather OK for SpaceX Cape launch with minor FAA restrictions

Weather conditions around the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Father’s Day should be largely favorable for SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 launch with a communications satellite for Indonesian satellite operator PSN.

Forecasters with the Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 said conditions on Sunday, June 18, should gradually improve from 60% to 75% “go” during the three-hour launch window, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. EDT.

“(A) boundary should push south of the Space Coast by Saturday morning, creating a more normal summer pattern of coastal breeze development on Saturday and Sunday,”[ads1]; forecasters said in a report Friday. “Depending on localized convective interactions, the storm should subside throughout the launch window.”

The main concerns for launch Sunday night are cumulus and anvil clouds and a chance of lightning.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster will aim for a landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Less impact on cruise ships and aircraft

During Sunday’s launch window, three cruise ships are set to depart from nearby Port Canaveral.

Last year, a SpaceX mission with a flight path to the southeast was scrubbed when a cruise ship veered into an exclusion zone that stretches south along the state’s coastline.

But with Sunday’s mission, the 230-foot-long rocket will fly due east away from Launch Complex 40 over the Atlantic Ocean with exclusion zones extending away from the coast but not to the south, which should help avoid conflict with the ships’ scheduled departures.

In an effort to create less impact on air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday that in April it began reducing areas of no-fly zones around Florida’s space coast for most launches.

“Sections of airspace to the north that have traditionally been closed to all launches can now remain open during most launches,” the agency said in a release. “Based on risk analyzes conducted for each launch and collaboration with the US Space Force and space launch operators, the FAA determined that the existing airspace restrictions for most Florida launches were excessive and could be safely reduced.”

According to the FAA, since April, zero flights have been required to be diverted during 10 of the 12 launches that contained the reduced no-fly zone.

This change mainly affects commercial flights traveling northeast of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. According to the FAA, the change should help hundreds of passengers experience reduced flight delays.

When is the next launch?

Beyond Sunday’s SpaceX mission, United Launch Alliance teams at the Cape’s Launch Complex 37 are preparing for the penultimate launch of a Delta IV Heavy rocket before liftoff.

Lifting of the triple nuclear rocket is set for launch at 3:29 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 21. The mission called NROL-68 will lift a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Look for FLORIDA TODAY’s live launch coverage to begin 90 minutes before departure of both missions at https://www.floridatoday.com/space/.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her Twitter at @AlteredJamie.

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