SpaceX to push booster recovery limits with satellite launch attempt today

SpaceX is looking to push one of its most used boosters to its limits with a launch Tuesday evening from Cape Canaveral.

A Falcon 9 rocket flying a booster for a record-tying 22nd time will try and make a recovery landing even though it’s being used to fly its payload, the European Commission’s Galileo L13 satellite, to a medium-Earth orbit that required SpaceX to expend its booster on a similar launch earlier this year.

Liftoff is targeting 6:50 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with a backup opportunity on Wednesday at 6:46 p.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts only a 40% chance for good conditions at the launch site, and SpaceX said it was also monitoring weather in the recovery area in the Atlantic, where the booster will attempt to land on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Weather chances for launch improve to 80% if delayed until Wednesday.

SpaceX had to expend a booster that made its 20th flight for the Galileo L12 mission in April so SpaceX could provide the performance needed to get the payload to orbit.

“Data from that mission informed subtle design and operational changes, including mass reductions and trajectory adjustments, that will allow us to safely recover and reuse this booster,” SpaceX posted on its website ahead of the new mission.

It will still stress the attempt, though, as the reentry trajectory will mean more heat and dynamic pressure that normal, the company said.

“Although the reentry conditions are on the higher end of past missions, they are still acceptable,” SpaceX stated. “This landing attempt will test the bounds of recovery, giving us valuable data on the design of the vehicle in these elevated entry conditions. This in turn will help us innovate on future vehicle designs to make our vehicles more robust and rapidly reusable while expanding into more challenging reentry conditions.”

This would be the second SpaceX booster to hit 22 launches and landings if successful. This booster was used on two human spaceflights — Crew-3 and Crew-4 — as well as two cargo resupply launches to the International Space Station among others.

This would mark the 65th launch from all providers from the Space Coast in 2024, with all but four coming from SpaceX.

--------