SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit tonight (March 18).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off tonight from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base during a nearly four-hour window that opens at 10:28 p.m. EDT (0228 GMT on March 19).
You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X, 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 according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It will land vertically on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
It will be the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue hauling the 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. They’ll be deployed there about 62.5 minutes after liftoff.
Tonight’s launch will be the 26th operational mission of 2024 for SpaceX. Sixteen of the year’s 25 flights to date have been devoted to building out the Starlink broadband megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 5,500 satellites.
SpaceX has also conducted one very high-profile test flight in 2024 — the March 14 launch of its Starship megarocket. That was the third test mission for Starship, which SpaceX is developing to help humanity settle the moon and Mars.
Shambhu Kumar is a science communicator, making complex scientific topics accessible to all. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
