SpaceX lines up Space Coast's 1st launch of the year

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Jan 3, 2025

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After a record year of launches, SpaceX is set to kick things off again with the first mission of 2025 on Friday night.

A Falcon 9 on the Space42 Thuraya 4 mission carrying a communications satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a four-hour window that opens at 8:27 p.m. A backup opportunity on Saturday falls during the same launch window.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 95% chance for good conditions at the opening of the Friday window, but that worsens to 80% by the end of the window as winds associated with a cold front increase. Chances for a Saturday launch are more than 95% for good conditions at the launch site, but both Friday night and Saturday’s opportunities have booster recovery weather a concern downrange in the Atlantic.

When it does launch, the first-stage booster for this mission is making its 20th flight and will aim for a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

SpaceX in 2024 flew 88 times from its Space Coast pads at Canaveral and neighboring Kennedy Space Center, accounting for all but five of the Space Coast’s 93 total launches for the year.

It flew another 46 from California setting a new company record of 134 orbital missions for the year, although it was shy of the company’s projected target of 12 launches a month, or 144 total.

The pace for 2025 is expected to be greater, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

“Probably >180 Falcon launches in 2025,” he posted on X in December.

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