China conducted the debut flight of an upgraded version of the Chang Zheng 8 medium-lift rocket this week. Three Starlink launches from Florida were planned, with just the Feb. 18 flight remaining to be done, and a NROL flight from Vandenberg aboard a Falcon 9 is now set for Feb. 17.
All three Starlink flights were planned to fly from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, so Falcon’s launch schedule for the week is depending on the smooth turnaround of Space Launch Complex 40 between flights. The Starlink constellation is critical to SpaceX’s cash flow, so a fast launch cadence is being maintained.