SpaceX is set to launch the first batch of its internet satellites this year from Florida’s Space Coast today (Jan. 6).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 of the Starlink spacecraft is targeted to liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday during an approximate three-hour launch window that opens at 12:21 p.m EST (1721 GMT).
SpaceX will stream the launch live beginning about five minutes prior to lift off on its website and on the X social media network.
Should all go as planned, the Falcon 9’s first stage will returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff and touch down on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Nine of those flights have also been Starlink missions, and one has been crewed with astronauts — the Crew 5 mission to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage is expected to continue carrying the 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, where they will be deployed about 65 minutes after liftoff.
Starlink is the largest satellite constellation ever deployed — and it’s continuously growing, as Monday’s planned launch demonstrates. There are currently more than 6,850 active Starlink spacecraft, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
