CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is preparing for a potential launch doubleheader on Sunday (Aug. 30), and you can watch the action live online.
On Sunday morning, the company’s Starlink internet megaconstellation is expected to grow as SpaceX plans to launch an additional 60 satellites into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Just nine hours later, a different Falcon 9 is slated to deliver the Argentinian satellite SAOCOM-1B into a polar orbit, marking the first such mission to fly from the Cape since the 1960s.
The Starlink mission is scheduled to launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 10:12 a.m. EDT (1412 GMT). SAOCOM-1B will fly from SpaceX’s other Florida launch pad, at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That liftoff is scheduled for 7:18 p.m. EDT (2318 GMT).
You can watch both launches live here at Space.com and on our homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before liftoff. You’ll also be able to watch the launches directly from SpaceX.
The launch doubleheader is contingent upon a couple of factors. First, the weather needs to cooperate, and summertime in Florida can be tricky. The most recent weather reports issued by the Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron do not look terribly promising, with a 50% chance of favorable conditions for Starlink and only a 40% chance of favorable conditions for SAOCOM-1B.
SpaceX also needs to get launch approvals from the Eastern Range, the entity that oversees all launch operations on the East Coast. The company announced potential launch times on Friday (Aug. 28), but those assumed that United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket would launch early Saturday morning (Aug. 29) from Cape Canaveral, which did not happen.
The Delta IV Heavy’s engines ignited and its on board computers quickly shut them down after detecting an anomaly. ULA has not yet announced what caused the shutdown but has said it will be at least a week before its triple-barrel rocket will attempt to fly again.
The Delta IV Heavy launch directly affects SpaceX’s plans because it will deliver a national security payload. The satellite perched atop the massive rocket is a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. There’s a hierarchy when it comes to launch payloads, with NRO satellites receiving priority over all other missions, followed by civilian (such as NASA) and then finally commercial payloads.
SAOCOM-1B will be the first satellite launched into a polar-orbiting trajectory from Cape Canaveral since the 1960s. Typically, polar-orbiting missions are launched from the West Coast, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That’s because they can fly north or south over open water, which is not the case in Florida.
Most launches from Florida blast off on an easterly trek, while polar launches need to go north or south. In late 1960, debris from a Thor rocket reportedly fell on Cuba and killed a cow. This incident resulted in polar launches being moved to California.
Officials were later able to secure the rights to launch this type of mission from Florida, but only if the rocket had an automated flight termination system, which the Falcon 9 does. For the SAOCOM-1B mission, the Air Force secured a southerly corridor that passes over Cuba, while the rocket’s first stage will return to land and touch down at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.
There is some concern that the SAOCOM-1B mission’s unique flight path puts Space Launch Complex 37 (and the Delta IV Heavy) in the hazard zone. Since ULA was unable to get the Heavy off the ground Saturday morning, there was some speculation that the SAOCOM-1B mission would have to stand down until further notice. However, SpaceX’s communications team tweeted that, as of Saturday afternoon, both missions were still on for Sunday.
SpaceX hopes to provide global broadband coverage with its Starlink megaconstellation. Users on the ground will employ a small terminal (no larger than a laptop) to connect to the ever-growing constellation flying overhead.
To date, SpaceX has launched more than 600 of the internet-beaming satellites. Company founder and CEO Elon Musk has said that there need to be between 500 and 800 satellites in orbit before service can begin to roll out. Users are beta-testing the service now, but many more satellites may end up launching before Musk and SpaceX connect the world.
The weather on Sunday morning looks iffy, with only a 50% chance of favorable weather for Starlink, according to forecasters at the 45th Weather Squadron. Temperatures in the area are supposed to be around 83 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) with some thick clouds being the main cause for concern.
Later in the day, the weather conditions deteriorate a bit with just a 40% chance of launch for SAOCOM-1B. Temperatures in the area should stay around 83 degrees Fahrenheit, but forecasters are concerned about the potential for storm clouds to develop.
SpaceX has deployed one of its two drone ships, Of Course I Still Love You, to the designated recovery zone in the Atlantic Ocean. Here the massive ship will wait for the Starlink Falcon 9’s first-stage booster to return to Earth. The first stage used in the SAOCOM-1B mission will land on terra firma at Cape Canaveral Air Force station, and locals should be treated to some sonic booms.
SpaceX is also expected to attempt to recover the Falcon 9 payload fairings, or nose cones, as the company deployed its two net-equipped boats to different locations. One ship will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean at each recovery zone to support the recovery efforts of both missions.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
