Current:Home > ContactSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff. -AssetLink
SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff.
View
Date:2025-04-26 09:31:28
Look up, Florida.
SpaceX teams in the Sunshine State are on track to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites on Friday night.
Liftoff of the 230-foot rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is slated for 6:39 p.m. EDT, with the launch window last until 10:15 p.m.
If liftoff goes as planned it will mark the Space Coast's 52nd launch this year.
Live Space Team launch coverage updates will be posted here at Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network, starting 90 minutes before the launch window opens.
SpaceX's broadcast will be hosted on X about five minutes before liftoff, and the viewing will be posted at the top of this page.
When is the SpaceX rocket launch?
The first opportunity to launch the Starlink 6-19 mission is at 6:39 p.m. EDT Friday night, during a nearly four-hour launch window with three additional opportunities through 10:15 p.m.
Is New York City sinking?NASA finds metropolitan area slowly submerging
What's the weather forecast for today's SpaceX rocket launch?
Weather conditions for the Starlink 6-19 mission, according to the Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, are expected to be poor. Forecasters last projected a 40% chance of "go" conditions through the launch window.
Besides a primary concern of clouds and rain associated with thunderstorms, forecasters also listed the threat of lightning as a concern.
Recovery conditions for a booster landing aboard a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas were listed as "low risk."
Will a shutdown affect my flight?What to know about air travel if Congress doesn't act.
Here's what else to know about today's launch:
- Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 40 will host.
- The payload is the company's next batch of Starlink internet-beaming satellites.
- The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket will follow a southeasterly trajectory threading between Florida and the Bahamas.
- If it launches on time, it will mark the Space Coast's 52nd launch this year.
- No local sonic booms with this mission. The 130-foot first-stage booster will target a drone ship landing about eight minutes after liftoff.
- This will mark the 10th flight of the first stage booster.
Three other launches are also slated to take place in Florida this year.
Here they are:
October 6: ULA Project Kuiper Protoflight
- Company / Agency: United Launch Alliance
- Rocket: ULA Atlas V
- Location: Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: Opens at 2 p.m. EDT
- Trajectory: East
- Weather: TBD
- Landing: None; Atlas V is expendable
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
- About: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch KuiperSat-1 and 2, the first pair of prototype satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband system − a planned constellation of over 3,000 satellites that will deliver global internet service connectivity. The satellites will serve as a testbed to inform future design, deployment and operational plans ahead of a full-scale deployment beginning in 2024.
October 12: SpaceX Psyche
- Company / Agency: SpaceX for NASA
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon Heavy
- Location: Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center
- Launch Time: 10:16 a.m. EDT
- Trajectory: East
- Weather: TBD
- Landing: Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
- About: SpaceX will launch a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with NASA's Psyche spacecraft that's designed to study a metal asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
- Notes: Rescheduled from Thursday, Oct. 5 to allow teams more time to complete technical checkouts of the spacecraft.
2023 TBD: ULA Vulcan Centaur inaugural flight
- Company / Agency: United Launch Alliance
- Rocket: ULA Vulcan Centaur
- Location: Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Time: TBD
- Trajectory: Northeast
- Weather: TBD
- Landing: None; Vulcan is expendable
- Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
- About: ULA's new Vulcan Centaur rocket, which will replace Atlas V to become the only vehicle in its fleet, will fly its inaugural mission from Cape Canaveral with Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander. The lander, selected by NASA to help advance research ahead of putting two astronauts on the surface sometime before 2030, is expected to touch down on the northern part of the moon.
veryGood! (81811)
Related
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Why Today's Jenna Bush Hager Says Her 4-Year-Old Son Hal Still Sleeps in His Crib
- Russian athletes won’t be barred from the Paris Olympics despite their country’s suspension
- 'Scary as hell:' Gazan describes fearful nights amid Israeli airstrikes
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- 'Night again. Terror again': Woman describes her life under siege in Gaza
- The reclusive Sly Stone returns, on the page
- Trump Media's funding partner says it's returning $1 billion to investors, with many asking for money back
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer struggles to poke holes in Caroline Ellison's testimony
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Now in theaters: A three-hour testament to Taylor Swift's titan era
- Refrigeration chemicals are a nightmare for the climate. Experts say alternatives must spread fast
- After years of erasure, Black queer leaders rise to prominence in Congress and activism
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Trump's GOP opponents bristle at his response to Hamas' assault on Israel
- Amid a mental health crisis, toy industry takes on a new role: building resilience
- Police look to charge 3 men after Patriots fan died following fight at Dolphins game
Recommendation
Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
U.S. cities bolster security as Israel-Hamas war continues
Tens of thousands protest after Muslim prayers across Mideast over Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
5 killed in Mexico prison riot. Authorities cite dispute between inmates
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Kaiser Permanente workers win 21% raise over 4 years after strike
Cardinals complex in the Dominican Republic broken into by armed robbers
AP Exclusive: 911 calls from deadly Lahaina wildfire reveal terror and panic in the rush to escape