(CAPE CANAVERAL, FL) – SpaceX is now set for launches Friday and Saturday, changing their original plan for a same-day launch that could have made history for the tightest turnaround between two launches.
In a Tweet, SpaceX announced it is prioritizing the Falcon 9 launch of the O3b mPOWER mission on Friday, and is targeting a Saturday launch of the company’s own Starlink satellites.
We are prioritizing launch of the O3b mPOWER mission on Friday afternoon, and setting up for launch of Starlink on Saturday, December 17
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 16, 2022
The Friday launch from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will loft a pair of internet communications satellites for its customer SES, a Luxembourg-based satellite operator. An 87-minute liftoff window was set to open at 4:21 p.m. ET.
Then, on Saturday, at nearby Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center a second Falcon 9 will send another batch of SpaceX’s own internet-beaming Starlink satellites to orbit.
Both missions were expected to feature first-stage Falcon 9 booster landings on separate drone ships stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a short time after liftoff.