SpaceX will launch 46 Starlink satellites to orbit on Thursday (July 21), and you can watch it attempt to beat a launch record live.
A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with the bevy of internet satellites is scheduled to lift off at 1:39 p.m. EDT (10:39 a.m. local time or 1739 GMT) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. If SpaceX succeeds, the company will surpass its 31 record launches of 2021 with a 32nd launch in 2022, and still counting.
You can watch the entire launch sequence — including an attempt to land the Falcon 9’s first stage atop the SpaceX “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship in the Pacific Ocean — here at Space.com or directly via SpaceX’s YouTube (opens in new tab) channel.
Related: Falcon 9: SpaceX’s workhorse rocket
Coverage generally starts about 15 to 20 minutes before launch, and all launch times are subject to change due to weather or technical issues.
The company’s last successful Starlink launch from Vandenberg took place on July 11, during which 46 Starlink satellites went to space and the rocket first stage landed on the droneship 8.5 minutes after launch.
More frequently, the broadband satellites are sent to space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida. In fact, SpaceX did squeeze in an east-coast Starlink launch days ago on Sunday (July 17).
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite-internet service and includes more than 2,800 Starlink satellites (opens in new tab) to date. Starlink Group 3-2 is set to be SpaceX’s fourth Starlink launch in July alone.
In the longer term, the company has regulatory approval to put 12,000 Starlink craft in orbit, and has applied to an international regulator to send another 30,000 satellites after that.
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