SpaceX set to hold final launch on New Year’s Eve after delay

Dec. 30 (UPI) — In what is expected to be SpaceX’s final launch in a record-breaking 2024, the company announced it had delayed its newest deployment of Starlink satellites to New Year’s Eve.

The launch, which was slated for early Monday, was scrubbed and rescheduled for Tuesday at 12:34 a.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX said the launch window would be open until 1:28 a.m.

SpaceX did not give a reason for the delay in its note on its website.

“This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-6, BlueBird-1, USSF-124, mPOWER-B, and 11 Starlink missions,” SpaceX said.

If the launch goes off as planned, it will be SpaceX’s 134th orbital launch of the year, shattering its old record of 96 sets last year, a nearly 40% increase.

With its breakneck schedule, SpaceX has only run into a few hiccups. On July 12, the upper stage of a Falcon 9 record launched from the Vanderberg Space Force Base failed to deploy 21 Starlink satellites losing all 20 onboard.

Tuesday’s launch is expected to put 21 new satellites into orbit, 13 with direct-to-cell capability. It would be SpaceX’s third launch in three days, following a Starlink launch at Vanderberg and the four-satellite deployment for Astranis at Cape Canaveral.