SpaceX Gets Ready For 4 Launches This Month, Falcon 9 Launch Set Tomorrow

Elon Musk-led SpaceX is bracing for a hectic December with four launches. On Wednesday, It will launch CRS-19, the third mission of supplies to the International Space Station.

Overall, SpaceX had the lowest number of rocket launches this year so far in November compared to previous years. There were only 11 orbital launches including two Falcon Heavy missions through November.

In 2017, SpaceX launch totaled 18 flights and 2018 was a robust year with a record 21 missions.

CRS-19 launch details

The launch of CRS-19 will be from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and ferry 2.5 tons of cargo to the ISS.

It will be the 19th resupply voyage for SpaceX and a third time the Dragon capsule will be making it to space. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:51 pm ET (17:51 UTC) and weather conditions are expected to be favorable.

In the run-up to the launch, the first stage booster already had its static fire test.

Among the other upcoming launches, in mid-December, SpaceX will launch the JCSAT 18/Kacific 1 communications satellite into space from the Launch Complex-40 of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Crew Dragon test flights and Starlink satellites

Two more SpaceX launch missions may happen before the end of the year. No schedule is out yet.

One will be the In-Flight Abort test of Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program and test the prowess of Dragon detaching from the rocket.

SpaceX employees are reportedly preparing for the test flight aiming the launch by December end, per SpaceX news.

SpaceX may also launch the third tranche of 60 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit before December ends, although there is no official word yet on the launch date.

Next year, SpaceX awaits a busy schedule. In addition to commercial cargo, crew missions for NASA, commercial satellite flights, SpaceX will also amplify the launch of Starlink satellites promising extensive and cheap internet connectivity.

In the area of interplanetary travel projects including Mars colonization missions and lunar voyage missions, SpaceX had been working on the Starship. It is an all-purpose transportation system aimed to ferry people and cargo to destinations around the globe.

Recently, SpaceX's Starship rocket prototype faced a failure during a pressurization test on Nov.21, per BBC News. A video showed the vehicle’s top part rupturing and cryogenic propellants gushing out across the Boca Chica facility making clouds.

The Mk-1 prototype was preparing to have practice flights to an altitude of 20km in the coming weeks. SpaceX said in a statement: “The purpose of the test was to pressurize systems to the max, so the outcome was not unexpected.”