SpaceX Starlink Group 4-6 Launch

SpaceX plans to launch another group of 49 starlink satellites into Shell 4, orbiting at an altitude of 540 km with inclination 53.2°. Launch is scheduled for 00:26 UTC on 2022-01-18, which is in the evening of January 17th in western hemisphere time zones. Launch will be from launch complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Falcon 9 booster B1060, which will be making its tenth flight. Both payload fairing halves are making their second flight. Weather is forecast as 70% favourable for launch. This launch, like the last Starlink mission, will be on a southeasterly trajectory, making a dog-leg maneuver to avoid overflying the Bahamas. This reduces payload capacity, resulting in fewer satellites per launch, but avoids bad winter sea conditions in the north Atlantic for booster and fairing recovery.

Here is the pre-launch preview from Everyday Astronaut.

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Appears to be delayed a day?

Yes, according to Spaceflight Now, the launch has been delayed until 00:04 UTC on 2022-01-19. The delay was declared due to poor sea conditions for booster recovery at the drone ship’s location.

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