Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

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Florida's Space Coast is the home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where a record-breaking 72 orbital launches took flight last year.

But with 32 rockets lifting off by the end of April, this year's speedier cadence projects out to a new annual record of 96 launches. Will that pace hold through the rest of 2024? Stay tuned.

SpaceX accounted for 30 of those first 32 launches of the year. United Launch Alliance launched the other two rockets: the first Vulcan on its Jan. 8 certification mission and the last Delta IV Heavy on April 9 on the NROL-70 mission.

Following are the latest missions coming up from Cape Canaveral. All launches are listed in Eastern Daylight Time. Be aware: Dates and times are routinely subject to change for a variety of reasons.

For questions or comments, email FLORIDA TODAY Space Reporter Rick Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. For more space news, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Friday, May 17: SpaceX Starlink 6-59

A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory indicates a 4½-hour launch window will open Friday night for SpaceX's next Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

• Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink internet satellites.
• Launch: 8:32 p.m. with backup opportunities until 11:30 p.m.
• Trajectory: Southeast.
• Local sonic boom: No.
• Booster landing: Drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.

No earlier than Tuesday, May 21: NASA's Boeing Starliner crewed flight test

• Mission: NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will fly aboard a Boeing Starliner spacecraft and a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.
• Launch: 4:43 p.m. (postponed after a May 6 scrub).
• Location: Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Trajectory: Northeast.
• Live coverage: Starts at noon at floridatoday.com/space.

Thursday, May 23: SpaceX Starlink

A National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational advisory indicates another 4½-hour launch window will open Thursday night for a SpaceX Starlink mission.

• Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a payload of Starlink internet satellites.
• Launch: 6:45 p.m. until 11:16 p.m.
• Trajectory: Southeast.
• Local sonic boom: No.
• Booster landing: Drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.

Tuesday, June 25: SpaceX Falcon Heavy GOES-U

• Mission: NOAA's fourth and final GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites) spacecraft, which will monitor weather and environmental phenomena, will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
• Launch: Two-hour window opens at 5:16 p.m.
• Location: Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
• Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.

Thursday, Oct. 10: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Europa Clipper

• Mission: NASA's Europa Clipper is a solar-powered spacecraft designed to conduct the first detailed investigations of Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
• Launch: TBA.
• Location: Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
• Live coverage: Starts two hours before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.

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