SpaceX is set to launch yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (July 3).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities, is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday during a three-hour window that opens at 2:57 a.m. EDT (0601 GMT).Â
SpaceX will livestream the launch via its X account; coverage will begin about five minutes before liftoff.Â
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth about eight minutes after launch. It will touch down on the droneship called “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be the 16th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Â Ten of its 15 flights to date have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue hauling the 20 satellites to low Earth orbit, where they’ll be deployed about 61 minutes after liftoff.Â
Wednesday morning’s launch will be the 67th Falcon 9 mission of 2024 already. More than 70% of the rocket’s liftoffs this year have been devoted to building out the ever-growing Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 6,150 operational satellites.
In addition to this year’s Falcon 9 missions, SpaceX has conducted one launch of its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket and two test flights of Starship, the next-gen vehicle the company is developing to help humanity get a toehold on the moon and Mars.
