SpaceX F9 : Starlink v1.0 L17 : KSC LC-39A : 4 March 2021 (0824 UTC)

[johnlage]

New L-2 weather forecast for launch on the 5th, released at 2 PM Eastern: 70% GO (with moderate recovery risk) for the 5th , 70% GO (with "high-moderate" recovery risk) for the 6th.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1357061342876766208

To allow additional time for pre-launch checks, now targeting Friday, February 5 at 5:14 a.m. EST for launch of Starlink from LC-39A

[TJL]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1357061342876766208

To allow additional time for pre-launch checks, now targeting Friday, February 5 at 5:14 a.m. EST for launch of Starlink from LC-39A

Will it now be redesignated as "L18"?

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Updated launch weather forecast - now L-2 and 70% GO

[Jansen]

Don’t think anything has changed from the one posted an hour ago?

[PM3]

Jeepers. The intensity of the mission numbering debate above could come straight out of an episode of Big Bang Theory😀.

Heh. SpaceX is trolling us by not publishing any hint on the launch number for L18.

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, February 4 for launch of 60 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/

For comparison, this is what they wrote on L16:

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, January 20 for its seventeenth Starlink mission, which will launch 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center.

[zubenelgenubi]

https://twitter.com/Cygnusx112/status/1357067888646053890

Not often we get to see TWO Falcon 9’s vertical at the same time. First launch in a few hours off of LC-40 at 1:19am L. LC-39A is Friday at 5:14am L.

Left Tweet image is of SLC-40; right Tweet image is of LC-39A.
The Falcon for this thread's launch coverage is on LC-39A.

[SMS]

https://twitter.com/TSKelso/status/1357220349771874307

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Nice shot from SpaceX L18 webcast

[FutureSpaceTourist]

L-1 launch weather forecast, still 70% GO

[Michael Baylor]

Launch now Sunday at 4:31 am local.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacexfleet/status/1357432301022556161

This explains why Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief are returning to Port Canaveral.

Plenty of time to unload and reset from L18 and get back out for L17, as required.

[Jansen]

Launch now Sunday at 4:31 am local.

Delayed for the ninth time since the original Jan 27 date.

[Ken the Bin]

The new Rocket Launching notice from the NGA hasn't arrived yet, but here is the new Space Debris notice:

042055Z FEB 21
HYDROPAC 428/21(GEN).
INDIAN OCEAN.
WESTERN SOUTH PACIFIC.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS
   071125Z TO 071218Z FEB, ALTERNATE
   081104Z TO 081157Z AND 091042Z TO 091135Z FEB
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   29-43S 060-07E, 24-55S 064-27E,
   38-45S 084-30E, 45-12S 099-45E,
   49-46S 119-13E, 50-42S 138-19E,
   48-50S 156-44E, 51-46S 158-08E,
   54-42S 148-32E, 56-20S 131-03E,
   55-52S 107-50E, 49-11S 085-05E,
   34-32S 064-13E.
2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 414/21.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 091235Z FEB 21.

[Ken the Bin]

And here's the new Rocket Launching notice:

042040Z FEB 21
NAVAREA IV 110/21(11,26).
WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
FLORIDA.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   070916Z TO 071034Z FEB, ALTERNATE
   080855Z TO 081013Z AND 090833Z TO 090951Z FEB
   IN AREAS BOUND BY:
   A. 28-39-10N 080-37-48W, 29-00-00N 080-14-00W,
      29-15-00N 079-56-00W, 29-17-00N 079-50-00W,
      29-11-00N 079-44-00W, 29-07-00N 079-47-00W,
      28-50-00N 080-02-00W, 28-34-00N 080-22-00W,
      28-30-21N 080-32-58W.
   B. 31-57-00N 076-56-00W, 33-17-00N 076-03-00W,
      33-31-00N 074-59-00W, 33-10-00N 074-36-00W,
      32-27-00N 074-46-00W, 31-42-00N 076-41-00W.
2. CANCEL NAVAREA IV 105/21.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 091051Z FEB 21.

[wannamoonbase]

Launch now Sunday at 4:31 am local.

Delayed for the ninth time since the original Jan 27 date.

Ouch, this one really doesn't want to go anywhere in a hurry does it.

Now we know why the fairing recovery ships are coming back.  They can make that turn and be about out.

Soon we'll be wondering if 19 goes before 17.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1357441415454674944

Targeting no earlier than February 7 at 4:31 a.m. EST for launch of Starlink from 39A, pending Range availability, to allow time for pre-launch checks and recovery vessels to get on station after offloading fairing halves from previous mission; team is monitoring recovery weather

[edkyle99]

Launch now Sunday at 4:31 am local.

Delayed for the ninth time since the original Jan 27 date.

Ouch, this one really doesn't want to go anywhere in a hurry does it.

Now we know why the fairing recovery ships are coming back.  They can make that turn and be about out.

Soon we'll be wondering if 19 goes before 17.

Nine delays?  That's nothing!  Wasn't a Titan 23G launch delayed by years?  Big booster Titans used to sit in Florida for that long.  There were a few Deltas too that suffered long delays for various reasons, more often than not due to payload issues.  And Shuttle.  Oh boy, I remember a few of those campaigns.  17 will go soon enough, and before 19 unless it suffers more hardware problems.

 - Ed Kyle

[ZachS09]

https://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/031012saga.html

DMSP-5D3 F16, which was the last Titan II(23)G payload, was delayed for 33 months.

First countdown was January 2001, and it took off in October 2003. It was destacked twice to let two other missions launch (NOAA-M and Coriolis).

[WannaWalnetto]

Has any reason been given for this new delay?  Could it be some non-technical reason, like wanting to have a launch on the same day that Shift4 Payments’ commercial runs during the Super Bowl?