[Annulation à T-1m14s] LANCEMENT SPACEX STARLINK 17 ( Fusée FALCON 9 )
Video from the channel UFOTINIK about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 37:14. Language: French. Video type: Livestream.
What's being streamed
A French-language live stream by an enthusiast who follows the launch attempt of the Starlink L17 mission with a Falcon 9 set to put 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, combining his own commentary with the SpaceX feed. It was a night launch scheduled for 2:37 a.m. Paris time, after several delays since early February due to launch vehicle issues, a new static-fire test, and weather. The commentator explains that SpaceX wanted to inspect the rocket after the previous flight's first-stage recovery failed.
Key moments
Before the official feed, the flight data is reviewed: the first stage, B1049, had seven flights under its belt, the first with the Telstar 18V satellite on 10 September 2018 and another with Iridium NEXT-8 from Vandenberg on 11 January 2019, plus several Starlink missions, making this eighth flight tie the booster-reuse record. One fairing half was on its fourth flight, a record, and the other on its third; the stage was due to land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You. The weather forecast was 90% favorable, though low-altitude wind was close to the allowed limit. The Falcon 9's figures are also recalled: 70.1 m tall, 3.6 m in diameter, two stages, nine Merlin engines on the first and one on the second, with RP-1 and liquid oxygen.
During the wait the commentator also discusses other topics: the Starlink beta service (around 500 euros for the equipment plus a monthly fee), the Gateway station and the Artemis program, the SLS core stage static-fire test, which lasted 67 seconds versus the planned eight minutes, and the possibility that Starship SN10 would fly starting Wednesday, 3 March.
Outcome
The launch was scrubbed in the final phase of the countdown: the clock was stopped and reset to T-15 minutes before that night's window was declared closed. SpaceX announced the next launch opportunity would be the following day.