Future Timeline

published 53 minutes ago



SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit tonight (March 28).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California tonight during a four-hour window that opens at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. local California time; 0230 GMT on March 29).

You can watch it live via SpaceX's account on X. Coverage will begin about five minutes before the window opens.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9's first stage will come back to Earth for a vertical touchdown about 8.5 minutes after liftoff tonight. That landing will occur on the deck of the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

It will be the 15th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/04/s ... cargo.html
Elon Musk has targeted an orbital launch cost of $10/kg for Starship, with propellant costs accounting for roughly one-third. Orbital launch cost would be about four times more than the cost of point to point on Earth rocket delivery costs. Point to point rocket delivery would only need the Starship upper stage. There are only six engines in the upper stage instead of 39 engines for the upper stage and the booster stage. The fuel usage would be four times less. This would mean point to point rocket delivery at $2.50 per kilogram.