SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California’s central coast today (Jan. 24).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today, during a 3.5-hour window that opens at 9:07 a.m. EST (1407 GMT; 6:07 a.m. local time).
SpaceX will stream the action live via its X account, starting about five minutes before launch.
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You.”
It will be the 23rd launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Fourteen of its 22 flights to date have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will carry the 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there about 64 minutes after liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
Today’s launch will be the 11th Falcon 9 mission of 2025 and seventh Starlink mission of the year.
Starlink is the biggest satellite constellation ever assembled, and it’s getting bigger all the time. The network currently consists of more than 6,900 operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
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