SpaceX is preparing to launch its next Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday morning, a day before the company’s stock becomes publicly available on the Nasdaq.
The Starlink 17-44 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. There are more than 10,500 Starlink satellites currently in orbit.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 8:05:59 a.m. PDT (11:05:59 a.m. EDT / 1505:59 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 34th flight after launching five times for the National Reconnaissance Office, five SpaceX rideshare missions, Germany’s SARah-1, NASA’s SWOT, CAS500-2 for South Korea and 20 previous Starlink delivery flights.
The first stage booster will target a landing on the SpaceX drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean about eight and half minutes after launch. If successful, this will be the 202nd landing on this vessel and the 622nd booster landing for SpaceX.
