SpaceX aims to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites Friday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base using its second most-flown Falcon 9 first stage booster.
The Starlink 17-48 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. SpaceX currently has more than 10,700 spacecraft within its constellation.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 8 p.m. PDT (11 p.m. EDT / 0300 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 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1071. This will be its 35th flight after launching NASA’s SWOT, five missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, and five missions for its SmallSat Rideshare Program.
More than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 will land on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 209th landing on this vessel and the 636th booster landing for SpaceX.
