SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink Internet satellites from Florida early Wednesday (July 3).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, 13 of which are live-cell capable, is scheduled to lift off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a three-hour window opening Wednesday at 2:57 a.m. EDT (0601 GMT). .
SpaceX will livestream the launch via its X account; Coverage begins five minutes before departure.
If all goes according to plan, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about eight minutes after launch. It will touch the drone ship „A Shortfall of Gravitas” deployed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Step one is the 16th launch and landing for this particular booster SpaceX mission description. Ten of its 15 flights to date are Starlink missions.
Meanwhile, the upper stage of Falcon 9 will carry 20 satellites into low Earth orbit.
Wednesday morning’s launch will already be the 67th Falcon 9 mission of 2024. More than 70% of the rocket’s liftoffs this year have been devoted to building the ever-growing Starlink megaconstellation, which currently contains more. 6,150 operational satellites.
In addition to the Falcon 9 missions this year, SpaceX also conducted one launch of its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket and two test flights of Starship, the next-generation vehicle the company is developing to help humanity reach the Moon and Mars.