Live coverage: SpaceX to launch its first Falcon 9 rocket since Nasdaq debut

File photo of a Falcon 9 fueled for launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its first Falcon 9 rocket since making its public trading debut on the Nasdaq on Friday.

The Starlink 17-54 mission, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday morning, will add 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled during a window that opens at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT / 1400 UTC). The rocket will fly on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

SpaceX will launch the Starlink 17-54 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1093. This will be its 14th flight after launching missions, Transporter-14, SDA T1TL-B, SDA T1TL-C, and ten batches of Starlink satellites. 

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1093 will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this would be the 203rd landing on this vessel and the 624th booster landing for SpaceX.