SpaceX plans to launch yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites tonight (June 7).
The Starlink satellites will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida tonight, during a 130-minute window that opens at 8:00 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT on June 8).
SpaceX will webcast the launch live via its X account, beginning about five minutes before liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
The Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch, if all goes according to plan. It will land 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. Among its 15 flights to date are 11 Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue carrying the 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. They’re scheduled to be deployed 52.5 minutes after liftoff.
Tonight’s launch will be the 59th orbital mission of the year for SpaceX already. Forty-one of the company’s 58 launches in 2024 have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 6,000 functional satellites.
The above tally does not count launches of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket, which has lifted off on two test flights so far this year. The most recent one occurred yesterday (June 6) and was a rousing success, as both stages of the huge vehicle splashed down in their planned ocean landing zones.
