SpaceX targeting late Wednesday and Thursday night for Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 launches

Update: (Monday, July 24) New federal filings and updated weather forecasts show SpaceX is now separately targeting Wednesday and Thursday night for these missions.

• A Falcon Heavy is set to launch the Jupiter 3 satellite from Kennedy Space Center late Wednesday, July 26, between 10 p.m. EDT and 1 a.m. Thursday, July 27.

• At Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, another batch of Starlink satellites is set to liftoff on a Falcon 9 late Thursday, July 27, between 10:04 p.m. EDT and 12:44 a.m. EDT Friday, July 28.

• For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

SpaceX teams are gearing up for a possible launch and landing doubleheader this week on the Space Coast.

At Kennedy Space Center, teams are prepping to launch a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket with a communications satellite for EchoStar. At nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, another batch of Starlink satellites is set to fly on a Falcon 9.

Both missions are targeted to liftoff late Wednesday, July 26, into early Thursday, July 27, and weather conditions for the launch windows between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. look mostly favorable.

Aside from double launches, SpaceX will also shoot for dual Falcon Heavy booster landings at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Landing Zones 1 and 2. The landing attempts should produce startling middle-of-the-night low-frequency sonic booms that could wake up residents across the Space Coast.

Because the launch schedule is constantly shifting, however, spectators should expect the timing of one or both of these missions to push to Thursday or beyond.

What's the weather look like?

On Monday, Space Force forecasters projected an 80% chance of "go" conditions for the overnight liftoff of both missions on Wednesday.

"After hot and active weather over the weekend and start to the week, a pattern change will bring generally favorable conditions for the launch window Wednesday night," forecasters said in a report Monday. "Daily storms (should) push well inland by the late afternoon and evening."

The only main concern for liftoff and landing is a slight chance of cumulus and anvil clouds from showers that could produce lightning around the spaceport.

"Any lingering showers and storms over the interior will begin to die off after sunset, and the only concern will be associated with any isolated coastal showers that are able to develop from the onshore flow," forecasters said.

Conditions for a sea-based recovery of the Starlink mission's Falcon 9 booster on a drone ship were listed as low-risk. Meanwhile, the center core booster of the Falcon Heavy will be expended over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX will not attempt to recover it.

Should either mission slip to the backup launch window overnight Thursday, weather conditions stay relatively the same at 75% "go." Forecasters expect only a slightly higher chance of unsettled weather then, but that should stay mostly stay offshore.

What are the mission payloads?

Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings

Packed inside the Falcon 9's protective fairing, Wednesday's Starlink 6-7 mission features another batch of SpaceX's own Starlink satellites that deliver high-speed internet around the globe.

At KSC, the 230-foot Falcon Heavy is being outfitted with the Jupiter 3 communications satellite for EchoStar, the largest commercial communications satellite ever built. With its solar arrays fully deployed, Jupiter 3 spans nearly the length of the wingspan of a commercial airliner and weighs in at roughly nine tons.

Built by Maxar Technologies for Hughes Network Systems, Jupiter 3 is designed to deliver high-speed HughesNet broadband internet connectivity to rural and remote locations. According to Hamid Akhavan, CEO of Hughes's parent company EchoStar, Jupiter 3 satellite will join a fleet high above Earth in geostationary orbit "to serve more customers, especially where cable and fiber can't."

HughesNet currently boasts more than a million customers across North and South America. The addition of the Jupiter 3 satellite should increase that capacity by hundreds of thousands more.

Latest Space Coast launch: SpaceX sends more Starlink satellites to orbit, setting stage for Falcon Heavy mission

"Since inventing satellite internet and bringing broadband connectivity to remote and rural customers, Hughes has continued to advance our service offerings with more capacity, higher speeds, and a better online experience," Akhavan said in a release. "Jupiter 3 represents the next leap in our offerings, bringing HughesNet customers what they have been asking for: more data and higher speeds."

As for SpaceX's Starlink, more than 1.5 million customers are subscribed to the worldwide internet service, which is available not only in remote and hard-to-reach destinations but also on boats, planes, and recreational vehicles. Starlink services are available to residential, government, and commercial customers.

By the end of this year, some mobile customers with cellular service provider T-Mobile could access Starlink services to send text messages with a plan called "Coverage Above & Beyond."

All told, SpaceX has sent nearly 5,000 of the satellites to orbit since first the first operational launches began in 2019. With no plans to slow down production, SpaceX anticipates needing to launch tens of thousands more to provide consistent global coverage.

Look for FLORIDA TODAY's live launch coverage of both missions to begin 90 minutes before the liftoff at https://www.floridatoday.com/space/.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.

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Launch Wednesday, July 26

• Company / Agency: SpaceX for Hughes Network Systems

• Rocket: SpaceX Falcon Heavy

• Location: Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center

• Launch Window:  10:04 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 26, to 1:12 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 27

• Trajectory: East-Northeast

• Weather: 85% "go"

• Landing: Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station; the center core is expendable

• Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space

• About: SpaceX will launch a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the JUPITER 3 communications satellites built by Maxar to deliver more broadband capacity and higher speed connectivity services to Hughes Network Systems customers across North and South America.

Launch Thursday, July 27

• Company / Agency: Internal SpaceX mission

• Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

• Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

• Launch Window: 10:04 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 26, to 12:44 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 27

• Trajectory: TBD

• Weather: 70% "go"

• Landing: Drone ship

• Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space

• About: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the company's latest batch of Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX set for Wednesday and Thursday launches this week.