SpaceX plans to launch 55 of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit early Sunday morning (Feb. 12), and you can watch it live — provided the weather cooperates.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 55 Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off Sunday at 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. But don’t get your hopes up; there’s just a 20% chance of good weather at launch time, SpaceX said via Twitter (opens in new tab) on Friday (Feb. 10). There are backup opportunities available late Sunday night and early Monday morning (Feb. 13).
Whenever the mission flies, you can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company (opens in new tab). Coverage is expected to begin about five minutes before launch.
Related: 10 weird things about SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will land 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
It will be the 12th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab). Among its previous flights are six other Starlink missions and two landmark private astronaut flights, the Ax-1 journey to the International Space Station and the free-flying Inspiration4 jaunt to Earth orbit.
The Falcon 9 upper stage, meanwhile, will continue hauling the Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying all 55 of them about 63 minutes after liftoff.
Sunday morning’s launch will continue building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which already consists of more than 3,500 operational satellites (opens in new tab). It’s bound to get far bigger still: SpaceX has permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink craft and has applied for approval for an additional 30,000.Â
The coming Starlink launch will be SpaceX’s 10th orbital mission of the year and the ninth for the workhorse Falcon 9. The company’s other flight in 2023 was made by its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
