SpaceX launching telecom satellite from Florida today

SpaceX is set to launch a satellite for the Australian telecom company Optus this afternoon (Nov. 17) from Florida’s Space Coast.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Optus-X satellite is scheduled to lift off from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center today, during a two-hour window that opens at 4:29 p.m. EST (2029 GMT).

SpaceX will livestream the action via its account on X, starting about 15 minutes before launch.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about nine minutes after liftoff, landing vertically on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It will be the 16th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Nine of its 15 flights to date have been dedicated to building out SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit (LEO).

Optus-X isn’t headed to LEO, however; the Falcon 9’s upper stage will deliver it to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will then make its own way to geostationary orbit, which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth.

Today’s planned launch is part of a very busy three-day stretch for SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company plans to launch two missions on Monday (Nov. 18) — a Starlink batch and an Indian telecom satellite — and the sixth-ever test flight of its Starship megarocket on Tuesday (Nov. 19).

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.