Of the 40 launches predicted for Brevard County on spacelaunchschedule.com for the remainder of 2023, 12 are for Starlink, the telecommunications constellation rapidly populating low-Earth orbit.
Starlink is a product of Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX. Each launch reaps millions for Florida’s economy and secures the employment of nearly 2,000 people, but some scientists are concerned that the benefits might not stack up to the costs.
Four Cornell University researchers looked at the environmental impact of the first phase of three major constellations — Amazon Kuiper (3,236 satellites), OneWeb (648 satellites), and SpaceX Starlink (4,425 satellites) — and found that emissions of black carbon, aluminum oxide and water vapor exhaust associated with launches supporting space-based broadband service is between 31 and 91 times higher than land-based broadband. The study was released Oct. 7.
So far in 2023, SpaceX has had 58 launches out of Central Florida, its most ever in a given year. The company plans to up that number in 2024, according to the online space news portal Spaceflight Now.
The aggressive SpaceX launch schedule is partly responsible for another superlative: more rockets have launched out of Brevard County in 2023 than any other year.
Read on for highlights of the year’s remaining confirmed launches:
November 5, 10:01 p.m.
Mission: NASA contracted SpaceX to deliver supplies and payloads to the International Space Station, including materials directly supporting science and research investigations.
Where: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch cost: $52,000,000
November 15, 7 p.m.
Mission: NASA contracted SpaceX to deposit the Nova-C IM-1 lander on the moon. The lander, built by Houston, Texas-based Intuitive Machines, will carry Artemis and commercial payloads. NASA’s Artemis program kicked off in 2017 with plans to conclude in 2029 and includes building a lunar space camp.
Where: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch cost: $52,000,000
Dec. 10, 7 p.m.
Mission: This is the 20th flight of the uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus CRS-2 NG-20 and its 19th flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Cygnus is a product of Orbital ATK which was acquired by Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), both based in Dulles, Virginia.
Where: Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral
Launch cost: $52,000,000
Dec. 30, 7 p.m.
Mission: San Francisco, California-based Astranis is in the same line of business as Kuiper, OneWeb and Starlink. The company contracted SpaceX to take four of its MicroGEO communications satellites to space.
Where: Unknown pad, Cape Canaveral
Launch cost: $52,000,000
Dec. 30, 7 p.m.
Mission: SpaceX won its first government contract for the Falcon Heavy, the second-most powerful operational rocket behind Boeing’s Space Launch System. SpaceX beat out United Launch Alliance for the top-secret U.S. Air Force mission.
Where: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch cost: $97,000,000
Dec. TBD
Mission: Stockholm, Sweden-headquartered Ovzon (STO: OVZON) contracted SpaceX to launch its Ovzon 3 communications satellite to enable a broadband telecommunications program for Maxar Technologies Inc., based in Westminster, Colorado.
Where: Unknown pad, Cape Canaveral, FL
Launch cost: $52 million
Complete list of launches predicted by spacelaunchschedule.com:
November 3
November 16
November TBD
Dec. 11
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 31
Dec. 31
Dec. 31
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
Dec. TBD
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