| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2026-06-17, 06:39:00 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | 2026-06-17, 02:39:00 (EDT) |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA |
| Booster | B1077-29 |
| Landing | A Shortfall Of Gravitas |
| Payload | BlueBird 8 to 10 |
| Mass | 13500 kg |
| Customer | AST SpaceMobile |
| Target Orbit | LEO |
Webcasts
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfU7BI6EeQE |
| Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QC-T99MDuA |
| NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4xvKDvcrTo |
| The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip-PJNU0bmg |
| SpaceX | https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2067131466853613721 |
| The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxVvwgWPgT8 |
Stats
Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:
☑️ 34th launch from SLC-40 this year
☑️ 4 days, 18:02:00 turnaround for this pad
☑️ 26 days, 20:34:40 turnaround for B1077
☑️ 157th landing on ASOG
☑️ 631st Falcon Family Booster landing, 642nd Falcon recovery attempt
☑️ 70th Falcon 9 mission this year, 653rd overall
☑️ 72nd SpaceX mission this year, 682nd overall (excluding Starship test flights)
☑️ 72nd SpaceX launch this year, 691st overall (including Starship test flights)
Mission info
BlueBird 8 to 10 (BlueBird Block 2 FM3 to 5)
The next-generation Block 2 BlueBirds are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird satellites in orbit today, accelerating the goal to achieve 24/7 continuous cellular broadband service coverage. The service will target approximately 100% U.S. nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 coverage cells, with beams designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data and video applications. The Block 2 BlueBirds, featuring up to 2,400 square foot communications arrays, will be the largest ever commercially deployed in low Earth orbit once launched.
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Orbital info from Jonathan McDowell:
https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3moitbuycw22p
Three objects cataloged from the AST Space Mobile launch as expected - but the orbit data are non standard. Orbit for object 69589 of 150 x 551 km x 53 deg appears to be the Falcon 9 SECO-1 orbit, before circularization at apogee (1/2)
https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3moitca6xi22p
Object 69590 in 527 x 533 km x 53 deg is as expected for one of the BlueBird sats. Object 69591 in 5 x 580 km is consistent with the Falcon 9 orbit after its deorbit disposal burn.
https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3moitcr4mic2p
I expect later element sets will show all three BlueBirds in their expected orbits; no cause for alarm at this stage. Space Force just don’t usually give the deorbit trajectory in a TLE (I wish they would actually!)
Update from Jonathan McDowell: https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3mokhbneq5c2z
Space Force has issued new orbit data for the AST SpaceMobile sats launched yesterday, showing all three in their expected 525 x 530 km x 53.0 deg orbits, independently confirming successful launch.
https://bsky.app/profile/rykllan.bsky.social/post/3mojuvm7tik2l
#Falcon9 fairing halves of #BlueBird 8-10
Hey hobby astronomers, if you hated Starlink, the Bluebirds are going to make you claw your eyes out
Good for AST that they were able to get 3 of them in a Falcon 9 fairing, though, while they wait for New Glenn and Vulcan to return to flight.
Third and final payload (BlueBird 8) deployment confirmed!
First two payload deployments (BlueBird 9 and BlueBird 10) confirmed.
SES-2, SECO-2, and nominal orbit insertion confirmed.
Payload deployments are scheduled to start at T+54 minutes.
M-vac shutdown, stage 1 landing, and nominal orbit insertion!
SES-2 is scheduled for T+46:06.
MECO, stage separation, M-vac ignition, and fairing separation.
Liftoff!
SpaceX webcast is live. Tyler Lionquist is hosting.
