SpaceX begins its 2021 launch campaign Thursday evening

Following the launch, SpaceX will again attempt to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on a barge, named Just Read the Instructions, floating in the Atlantic Ocean for use in future missions. The weather forecast Overall is favorable, with a 70 percent chance of "transition" conditions on Thursday.

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Elon Musk's company's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off of Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 40 at 9:15 PM EST on Thursday night, within its four-hour launch window. It marks the start of a very busy year for the private space company.

SpaceX kick-started the 2021 launch year by sending Turksat 5A to orbit, a Turkish communications satellite. This will be the fourth flight of this base booster, which previously launched a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force in June 2020 as well as two Starlink missions to SpaceX, most recently on October 24. The rocket being used in the launch has already flown three previous missions. Each load of this work exhibits a previous mission flew.

In an interview, SpaceX President and COO Quinn Shotwell told RS that customers have faith in "aircraft proven" rockets and that it is usually left to SpaceX to determine the best rocket for each mission. Shotwell said He tells customers. In the midst of the epidemic in 2020, SpaceX was able to record a record 26 for total launches.