There's only a 30% chance that the weather won't cooperate for the Tuesday evening liftoff.

It doesn't look like Mother Nature will interfere with SpaceX's next Starlink launch.

The latest forecast from the U.S. Space Force predicts just a 30% chance of bad weather for the SpaceX launch of 53 Starlink satellites, which is scheduled to occur at 6:57 p.m. EDT (2257 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in coastal Florida, east of Orlando.

While the Space Force forecast(opens in new tab) points to "early-morning showers along the coast and afternoon storms over the interior," it stresses that things "continue to look favorable for launch."

The forecasters are, however, watching out for "light and veering upper-level flow" from winds that may "bring anvil clouds to the area," including possible showers.

Should the launch be delayed by 24 hours, the forecast notes that the probability is even better for a Wednesday (Aug. 10) launch, with only a 10% chance of weather causing an issue. "The primary concern during the backup window remains the cumulus cloud rule," the forecast states.

Starlink is SpaceX's ever-growing constellation of broadband satellites, which now has more than 2,200 active craft in space.

SpaceX has launched the satellites from both U.S. coasts. Shortly before liftoff, the company generally stations a "drone ship" not far away from the launch site to serve as a landing platform for the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage.

Source:
courtesy of SPACE

by Elizabeth Howell

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