SpaceX to launch first Direct to Cell Starlink satellites on January 2, 2024

After a few reschedules, SpaceX finally decided to push a major mission for January 2, 2024, it includes the first set of Direct to Cell Starlink satellites.

According to the information, SpaceX will launch 21 of the Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California 2nd of January.

This launch was originally scheduled for December 28, however, the company replaced the flight with another Starlink mission.

A few moments after the launch of the December 28th mission, the company rescheduled the next mission for December 30th from January 2nd.

Following the deployment of 23 Starlink satellites from today’s mission, the company announced it as the final launch of the year. Thus, rescheduling the December 30th mission back to January 2nd, 2024.

Mission Details:

The launch as a four-hour liftoff window opens at 6:13 p.m. PT. There’s an additional launch opportunity on January 3 starting at 5:51 p.m. PT.

This will be the first mission for the booster and following a staging, the first stage will land back on a drone ship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. After that, the second stage will carry load deployment at around 1 hour of the liftoff.

What’s more interesting is that the payload will carry six first-generation Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities. These new satellites will enable mobile network operators around the globe to offer satellite services for text, calls, and internet data.

The space rocket company may want to open its year with this big launch, so it simply rescheduled the mission for Jan 2 instead of December 30.

(source –  SpaceX)