This evening, May 31, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a new batch of its Starlink satellites into space. It is planned that a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the broadband craft would launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today. The launch window will last 26 minutes and begin at 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT on June 1).
The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX’s X account, starting approximately five minutes prior to the window opening.
About eight minutes after launch, if everything goes as planned, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will return to Earth and land on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.
As per the SpaceX mission description, this will be the booster’s 14th launch and landing. Thus far, Starlink missions have comprised seven of its thirteen flights.
The 23 Starlink satellites will be launched into low Earth orbit by the Falcon 9’s upper stage and deployed approximately 65 minutes after liftoff.
With tonight’s launch, SpaceX will have already completed 57 orbital missions this year and 40 liftoffs focused on Starlink in 2024. About 6,000 of the more than 6,500 Starlink satellites that the corporation has put into low-Earth orbit are presently in operation.
Spaceflight is undergoing an extremely hectic period, which includes the Starlink launch. For example, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is set to launch with astronauts on board for the first time ever tomorrow afternoon (June 1), while Rocket Lab intends to launch a NASA climate cubesat tonight. Furthermore, China’s Chang’e 6 robotic sample-return mission is scheduled to land on the moon’s far side tomorrow evening.