SpaceX is preparing for the launch of an additional 22 Starlink internet satellites from Florida, with the scheduled liftoff set for Monday night, October 9th.
The Starlink spacecraft will embark on their journey atop a Falcon 9 rocket, launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:42 p.m. EDT (0042 GMT on October 10th). Four backup launch opportunities are also available, extending from 9:32 p.m. EDT until 12:10 a.m. EDT (0132 to 0410 GMT on October 10th).
You can tune in to watch the live coverage via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly Twitter), which is expected to commence approximately five minutes prior to liftoff.
Assuming all goes as planned, the Falcon 9’s first stage will execute a vertical landing at sea on the SpaceX drone ship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas” roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff. This mission marks the 14th launch and landing for this specific Falcon 9 first stage, with two of its previous 13 missions involving transporting astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
Following liftoff, the 22 Starlink satellites are slated to be deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage into low Earth orbit approximately 65 minutes into the mission.
Originally scheduled for Sunday night, October 8th, this launch faced a 24-hour delay due to high winds. The Sunday launch would have been the first of two consecutive Starlink launches, as a separate Falcon 9 is set to carry 22 Starlink satellites into orbit from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:23 a.m. EDT (0723 GMT) on Monday.
These two Starlink missions mark the 71st and 72nd orbital launches of the year for SpaceX, with the majority of these launches dedicated to expanding the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently comprises more than 4,830 operational satellites.
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