SpaceX will launch 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California tonight (March 10), in the second leg of a planned spaceflight doubleheader.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base during a 3.5-hour window that opens tonight at 10:13 p.m. EDT (0213 GMT on March 11).
It will be the second Starlink mission in a little over three hours, if all goes according to plan; the company earlier launched 23 of the broadband craft from Florida’s Space Coast this evening.
SpaceX will stream the launch live via its X account, beginning about five minutes before the window opens.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
If all goes to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth about 8.25 minutes after liftoff, making a vertical landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
It will be the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Eleven of its 16 missions to date have been Starlink flights.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage will continue heading toward low Earth orbit (LEO), eventually deploying the 23 Starlink satellites there about 62 minutes after launch.
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Starlink is SpaceX’s broadband megaconstellation, which beams internet service to people around the world.
There are nearly 5,500 operational Starlink craft in LEO, but that number will continue to go up for the foreseeable future. SpaceX already has permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink satellites, and it has applied for approval for about 30,000 more on top of that.
Dr. Sarah Adams is a scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to all. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
