Watch SpaceX launch 53 Starlink satellites, land a rocket at sea today (Image Credit: Space.com)
SpaceX will launch 53 more of its Starlink internet satellites and land a rocket at sea today (Aug. 19), and you can watch it all live.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 53 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT). Watch it here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company (opens in new tab). Coverage will begin about 5 minutes before liftoff.
The action will include a landing as well as a liftoff: About nine minutes into the mission, the Falcon 9‘s first stage will come back to Earth for a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in photos
It will be the ninth launch and landing for this particular Falcon 9 first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab).
The rocket’s upper stage will continue its way upward, eventually deploying the 53 satellites into low Earth orbit a little over 15 minutes after launch.
SpaceX has already launched more than 3,000 spacecraft for its Starlink constellation, which beams broadband service to customers around the globe.
Many of those satellites have gone up this year. SpaceX has performed 36 orbital launches in 2022 so far, 22 of them dedicated Starlink missions. That’s a record-breaking launch cadence; the company’s previous mark for most orbital missions in a year was 31, set in 2021.
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 on Facebook (opens in new tab).
