This post has summary information on one or more upcoming launches.  Detailed information is provided in a later post (page and post numbers given).  Launch dates and times are subject to change....especially Starlink launches.

A.   Next launch:  The discussion of the Falcon 9, Starlink 6-53 launch from Florida on 22 April 2024 starts on page 139 (Post xx).

1)  Mission description:   "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."   SpaceFlightNow source

2)  Launch window:  6:40 PM EDT (22 April 2024)

3)  Launch site:   SLC-40, Florida

4)  Webcast viewing option(s):




B.   Following launch:  The discussion of the Falcon 9, Starlink 6-54 launch from California on 24 April 2024 starts on page 139 (Post xx).

1)  Mission description:   "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first pair of WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites for Maxar Technologies. Maxar plans to deploy six commercial WorldView Legion high-resolution remote sensing satellites into a mix of sun-synchronous and mid-inclination orbits on three SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. The first stage of the Falcon 9 will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base for landing."   SpaceFlightNow source

2)  Launch window:  11:30 AM PDT (24 April 2024)

3)  Launch site:   SLC-4E, California

4)  Webcast viewing option(s):




C.   Following launch:  The discussion of the Falcon 9, Starlink 6-54 launch from Florida on 26 April 2024 starts on page 139 (Post xx).

1)  Mission description:   "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."   SpaceFlightNow source

2)  Launch window:  6:40 PM EDT (26 April 2024)

3)  Launch site:   SLC-40, Florida

4)  Webcast viewing option(s):



Notable future flights.  Dates subject to change.

25 June 2024, Falcon Heavy, GOES-U.  Florida   A SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch the fourth and final satellite of the next-generation series of geostationary weather satellites for NASA and NOAA. GOES-U will orbit 22,300 miles above the equator to monitor weather conditions across the United States. The satellite will be renamed GOES-19 once it reaches its operational orbit.

October 2024,  Falcon Heavy, Europa Clipper

Jellyfish events

1)  A famous one was the 22 December 2017 Iridium launch from Vandenberg observed in Los Angeles, CA and other locations.

Launch time:   5:27 PM PST,   Sunset:  4:48 PM PST,   Civil twilight:   5:16 PM PST
Nautical twilight:  5:47 PM PST,    Astronautical twilight:  6:17 PM PST





2)  6 May 2022, Florida.

Launch time:   5:42 AM EDT

Sunrise:   6:38 AM EDT,   Civil twilight:  6:13 AM EDT,  Nautical twilight:  5:43 AM EDT
Astronautical twilight:  5:12 AM EDT

This is from South Carolina by Johnny Caldwell:



Central Florida (by Sam Wakim).  Go to 2:30.




3)   24 September 2022.  7:32 PM EDT launch from Florida on a northeasterly ascent.      Civil twilight is 7:41 PM.

Staging 1-2. And.......Jellyfish time! pic.twitter.com/JeVFPDMztd

Chris Bergin - NSF  (@NASASpaceflight) September 24, 2022

4)  8 October 2022.  Falcon 9, Galaxy 33/34 eastbound launch from Florida.  

See page 98, post #5.   Launch time 7:05 PM EDT.  Sunset is at 7:01 PM EDT, civil twilight at 7:25 PM and nautical twilight at 7:52 PM.

The following video was taken from the drone ship ASOG about 643 kilometers east of the launch site.  Estimated position:  73 degrees, 58 minutes West, 28 degrees, 36 minutes north.   Estimated sunset 28 minutes prior to the Cape or about 6:33 PM EDT so launch occurred 32 minutes after drone ship sunset.  This would be roughly six minutes after civil twilight at ASOG.


Gif provided by Chokey

This was taken from an airline after departing Aruba:

Attached File


While the jellyfish was observed well (by video) from a darker location, the ascent camera appears to do a great job of picking up the first stage as it separates from the second stage.  You can also see nitrogen thruster firings to reorient it for the re-entry burn.    Go to 16:25 in the following launch video.  That is not T+16:25....16:25 from the beginning of the webcast.

At 17:25 in the video you can see the two fairing halves as they are ejected from the second stage.




5)  Atlas V, 2 October 2015.  The following video was from a Tampa, FL media source.  I doubt that it was taken from Tampa.  Easterly launch at 6:28 AM EDT.  Cape Canaveral sun rise was 7:15 AM EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/10TampaBay/videos/see-the-atlas-v-launch-from-tampa/1052118964821855/


Credit:  Sam Wolfe

6)   Falcon 9, Starlink 4-31 launch from Vandenberg on 27 October 2022

Launch time:  6:14 PM PDT.  
Los Angeles:  Sunset: 6:06 PM,Twi: 6:32 PM.
Phoenix AZ:  Sunset: 5:42 PM,Twi: 6:08 PM

The following photo was from an Elon Musk twitter and mentioned as being from Los Angeles.  I suspect that it was from further east.  The crescent moon is visible to the lower right of the second stage.  The first star to the left of the moon is Antares in Scorpius.



The following was taken by AZCOP  (Jay) from Chino Valley, Arizona

Attached File


The photo below was taken by DrFrige somewhere in California:



Below is from Alpine, Texas...credit Kate Rubio




7)  USSF-67 Launch 5:56 PM EST on 15 January 2023.  Sunset: 5:47 PM,  Civil Twilight: 6:13 PM


Brian-You’re Killing Me Smalls-Smith@King_of_Snacks.   From SE North Carolina

WOW! Staging and the Boostback Burn is amazing! pic.twitter.com/pz40XNYmHu

Chris Bergin - NSF  (@NASASpaceflight) January 15, 2023

Great view of Falcon Heavy pic.twitter.com/56FznoGwmr

— Sam Patel (@_Shyamal_Patel) January 16, 2023

This was from a plane north and east of the launch site.

More on Page 107.

8)   Falcon 9, Starlink 6-15 launch from Vandenberg on 19 July 2023

Launch time:  9:09 PM PDT.  
Los Angeles:  Sunset: 8:04 PM.  Civil Twilight: 8:32 PM.   Nautical Twilight: 9:06 PM.   Astronautical Twilight: 9:44 PM

After stage separation the rearward facing second stage cameras showed the sun on the horizon.  YouTube of launch is below.  You can see the sun on the horizon starting around T+3:30.




Credit:  SpaceX

Attached File

Credit:  California_Kid from San Diego.

9) Starlink 6-6 launch on 23 July 2023 at 850 PM EDT from Florida

Sunset: 8:19 PM.   Civil twilight: 8:45 PM.   Nautical twilight: 9:16 PM.    Astronomical twilight: 9:49 PM

S/C Sep and Jellyfish. pic.twitter.com/Gammd3b9gU

Chris Bergin - NSF  (@NASASpaceflight) July 24, 2023

Credit:  Chris Bergin


10) Starlink 6-20 launch on 7 August 2023 at 857 PM PDT from California

Los Angeles, CA lighting data:
Sunset: 7:49 PM.   Civil twilight: 8:17 PM.   Nautical twilight: 8:49 PM.    Astronomical twilight: 9:23 PM

From the launch video I did see "sunrise" during ascent from the second stage for about three minutes starting about 3 minutes 40 seconds after launch.  

https://i.imgur.com/FBEFLsy.jpg
CreditL  Doug_262 from AZ.    Saw it (barely, not as clear as other times) from Phoenix, AZ.

11)  Starlink 7-16 from Vandenberg.  18 March 2024.  728 PM PDT launch to the south.

Los Angeles, CA lighting data:   Sunset: 6:57 PM.   Civil twilight: 7:22 PM.   Nautical twilight: 7:51 PM.    Astronomical twilight: 8:20 PM

There was a nice jellyfish effect with the Starlink 7-16 launch last night.



The one below is much better and shows the booster after separation as well as thruster firings from the falling fairing halves.




12)  Starlink 7-18 launch from Vandenberg on 1 April 2024 at 730 PM PDT.  Sunset in Los Angeles is 7:14 PM PDT and civil twilight is at 7:39 PM PDT

a.   From Arizona...credit freeride21a

Attached File


b.   From Arizona credit Erin Peitzmeier.


c.  Probably from Los Angeles.  Credit @rawsalert

\uD83D\uDEA8#BREAKING: Thousands of people are witnessing a spectacular jellyfish vapor across the night sky

\uD83D\uDCCC#LosAngeles | #California

Currently, across Southern California and into Arizona and into Utah, millions are witnessing a spectacular event after SpaceX launched their Falcon 9… pic.twitter.com/5eXa1khhPN

R A W S A L E R T S  (@rawsalerts) April 2, 2024

d.  Probably in Los Angeles.  Muting the audio is suggested.



e.  Santa Barbara, CA. Credit OliverVision youtube channel




f.  Gunslinger808 from Arizona

Attached File



g.  TheYellowThing from Arizona

Attached File


Analysis:  Based upon above events it appears that for a launch up to around nautical twilight a jellyfish event is possible.   Later is better in that it makes the sky darker.  In the two cases above the rocket is heading towards orbital daylight.  On 18 September from Florida and a post-sunset launch, the rocket may be heading towards Earth's shadow.

h.  Mulege, Mexico (Baja California).  Credit:  Pati Taylor

Just be sure to bump this in preparation of a launch. I can watch the launches from my yard but somehow the arf threads on them are my only notice of an upcoming launch (I don’t do tv). Thank you for setting this up.

Love me some SpaceX launch threads.  As I reported in another thread, I put a reminder with alarm on my phone for 45 minutes before launch (usually around a week from start of thread ) alarm goes off, Lou in here, pull up the thread and full along with the Arfcom Space brotherhood until launch.
Also, thanks AmericanPeople for posting them, I never watch the news and get my info in GD.

B.   Following launch:  The discussion of the Falcon 9, Starlink 6-39 launch from Florida on TBD February 2024 starts on page 136 (Post xx).

1)  Mission description:   "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."   SpaceFlightNow source

2)  Launch window:   3:00 AM EST (TBD February 2024)

3)  Launch site:   SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida

4)  Webcast viewing option(s):





A.   Next launch:  The discussion of the Falcon 9, Starlink 7-13 launch from California on 2 February 2024 starts on page 136 (Post xx).

1)  Mission description:  "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 22 Starlink internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean." Source

2)  Launch window:   7:04 PM PST (2 February 2024).

3)  Launch Site:   SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

...

There’s a launch today from Kazakhstan to the ISS adding three additional crew members (1 american) in about 20 minutes.

SpaceX needs to get crew dragon ASAP so we don’t have to pay another 80 million to the damn Russian space Uber.

I've mentioned this before. I don't think there has to be one giant thread, but it'd be nice if someone assembled an @ list calling people to the thread, like the LivePD and other recurring threads have. I just sometimes forget there are launches if I'm not subscribed to the thread.

Go baby go...and I can't wait until we don't need Soyuz to get man to space anymore.

@AmericanPeople

Static test fire was last night.

One thing that is inside the trunk, IDA3.
It is a replacement for IDA1 lost during CRS7.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/falcon-9-static-fire-test-crs-18/

https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/05/01/boeing-borrows-from-inventory-to-speed-docking-adapter-delivery/

If I read an article correctly, this will be the first time that NASA has used a "flight proven" booster.  The capsule will be making its third flight.

I don't even know what that is.

Tag!

This will be their first use of a flight proven Block V booster.  CRS-13, 14, and 15 flew on flight proven Block IV boosters.

not looking good for Wednesday or Thursday

A list of users to be notified of a new thread about upcoming launch.

@AmericanPeople

Putting the @ before a user name sends a notification

As Chokey noted above, weather may be an issue today.

Source

Standing by!

@AmericanPeople

Thunderstorms fixing to start pouring rain here right now

Thanks for all the Space X threads I really appreciate them! One small request- when possible could you put the estimated launch time with the date in the title?

Keep up the great work!

In!

T-30 minutes until Falcon 9 launch of Dragon; team is monitoring weather conditions. Webcast will go live ~15 minutes before liftoff ? https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) July 24, 2019

Live!

Weather currently no-go.

WX currently no-go, but pressing for launch.

Weather currently No Go but we are not at T-0.

Hold.

scrubbed

Scrub.

hopefully the starhopper gets some action tonight

Starhopper test live at Boca Chica.

about 10-15 min.

fully fueled.

Official Space X stream of Starhopper.

3:30!

SpaceX is also streaming it with commentary if you don't want to listen to EveryDay Astronaut commentary

welp that was blue balls

What a pisser...

Thanks AP!  in!

T-10-seconds is 07:37 on the SpaceX video.

Engine lights at T+0:02, at 07:50 on the SpaceX video.


Purging methane after engine shutdown.

Are they going to try again tonight?

Everyday Astronaut is still onsite, and the 'flare' is flaring up like they have the rocket fueled.

They shut the live feed down so i was thinking no.

They're trying to go again.

EA has said the SpaceX camera drone is flying.

There is a rumor of a SpaceX livestream right now, but I can't find it.