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Photo courtesy of SpaceX/Unsplash
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It’s shaping up to be a busy week for Hawthorne-based aerospace company SpaceX, which is scheduled to launch three rockets over the course of three days, starting Monday with an Italian Earth-observation satellite.
The launch of the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 from Cape Canaveral in Florida has been scrubbed four times already, leading to this week’s back-to-back-to-back schedule of liftoffs for SpaceX.
Following the most recent delay Sunday, the COSMO launch is now scheduled for 3:11 p.m. California time Monday. Once the satellite is propelled into orbit, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket being used in the mission will be returned to Earth and land back at Cape Canaveral. The rocket stage has been used in two previous missions, and recovering it again will allow for re-use in future flights, cutting the coasts of launches.
Both halves of the rocket’s fairing, or cargo-protecting nosecone, have also been used in previous missions.
At 10:46 a.m. California time Tuesday, SpaceX is scheduled to launch another batch of satellites for its Starlink broadband internet array. That launch is also scheduled at Cape Canaveral.
Back on the West Coast on Wednesday, SpaceX is scheduled to launch another satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. That launch is set for 12:18 p.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base along the Central Coast of California. Depending on visibility, Vandenberg launches can often be spotted across Southern California, although more dramatically during evening hours.
Residents in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties will often hear sonic booms associated with Vandenberg launches.
