SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral early Monday carrying 32 satellites and its second Starfall reentry capsule on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. The one-hour launch window opens at 6:30 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40, according to Spaceflight Now.
Starfall, the capsule SpaceX is developing to return cargo from orbit, rides on top of the satellite stack and will be the last payload deployed, about two hours and 48 minutes after liftoff, per NASASpaceflight. The vehicle first flew in June in a technology demonstration.
The flight uses booster B1085 on its 19th mission, having previously flown NASA’s Crew-9 and Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander. SpaceX plans to land the booster on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 55 percent chance of acceptable weather, citing gusty winds from a cold front pushing through southern Florida.
Source: Spaceflight Now
