SpaceX is preparing for lunchtime launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday afternoon.
The Starlink 11-25 mission will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East to deliver 28 more broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This will be the fourth launch this month supporting the Starlink satellite constellation and the 114th such launch this year.
SpaceX is targeting liftoff from the California coastline at 12:42 p.m. PST (3:42 p.m. EST / 2042 UTC). The rocket will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon departure from the launch pad.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
SpaceX will launch the mission using its Falcon 9 booster with the tail number 1097. This will be its fourth flight following the launches of the Sentinel-6B, Starlink 11-39 and Starlink 17-8.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1097 will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 167th touchdown on this vessel and the 544th booster landing for SpaceX to date.
Prior to the launch of the Starlink 11-25 mission, SpaceX launched 2,915 Starlink satellites across 113 missions in 2025. At least three more such missions are planned between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10.
In the midst of these Starlink flights, SpaceX is also slated to launch the NROL-77 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. This is a classified payload set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Dec. 9.
Be the first to comment