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SpaceX moves Starlink rocket launch at KSC to Tuesday over weather issues

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — 10:45 p.m. update:

SpaceX said its Starlink launch has been moved back to Tuesday due to weather issues.

Original report:

On Monday, SpaceX is set to launch its 17th mission of the constellation of networked satellites known as Starlink.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink-16 is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A at 8:45 a.m.

The goal of Starlink is to create a network that will help provide reliable and affordable internet services across the globe.

Launch viewing opportunities are not available on Monday, due to the launch window being outside normal operating hours of the complex.

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SpaceX successfully launched its first rocket of 2021 from Central Florida’s Space Coast on Jan. 7.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 9:15 p.m. and carried a Turkish communications satellite that will provide broadband services over the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

On Wednesday, a SpaceX cargo Dragon capsule full of science experiments splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Tampa Bay area, according to SpaceX. The capsule undocked from the International Space Station Tuesday morning.

The experiments on board were delivered to the Kennedy Space Center and included 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine and hundreds of snippets of merlot. A company in Luxembourg is using the drinks for agricultural research.

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