SpaceX is set to launch 20 Starlink internet satellites from California tonight (May 9), including 13 with direct-to-cell capability.A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight, during a two-hour window that opens at 11:20 p.m. EDT (8:20 p.m. local California time; 0320 GMT on May 10). SpaceX had originally planned to launch the mission on Wednesday night (May 8) but stood down from that attempt.SpaceX will livestream the launch 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 skyThe Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth about 8 minutes after launch, if all goes according to plan. It will touch down on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.It will be the 4th launch and landing for this particular first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description.The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue carrying the Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), where they will be deployed about 61.5 minutes after liftoff.RELATED STORIES:— SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on record 20th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage— 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight— Spaceflight doubleheader! SpaceX launches 2 rockets in 4-hour span (video)SpaceX just launched a Starlink mission on Wednesday, sending 23 of the satellites to LEO from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Back-to-back launches are far from a novelty for SpaceX these days. On March 30, for example, the company launched two missions — a Starlink batch and the Eutelsat 36D telecommunications satellite — less than four hours apart, both of them from Florida’s Space Coast.Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m. ET on May 9 with news of the new target launch date of May 9. …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnSpaceX is set to launch 20 Starlink internet satellites from California tonight (May 9), including 13 with direct-to-cell capability.A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight, during a two-hour window that opens at 11:20 p.m. EDT (8:20 p.m. local California time; 0320 GMT on May 10). SpaceX had originally planned to launch the mission on Wednesday night (May 8) but stood down from that attempt.SpaceX will livestream the launch 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 skyThe Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth about 8 minutes after launch, if all goes according to plan. It will touch down on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.It will be the 4th launch and landing for this particular first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description.The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue carrying the Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), where they will be deployed about 61.5 minutes after liftoff.RELATED STORIES:— SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on record 20th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage— 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight— Spaceflight doubleheader! SpaceX launches 2 rockets in 4-hour span (video)SpaceX just launched a Starlink mission on Wednesday, sending 23 of the satellites to LEO from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Back-to-back launches are far from a novelty for SpaceX these days. On March 30, for example, the company launched two missions — a Starlink batch and the Eutelsat 36D telecommunications satellite — less than four hours apart, both of them from Florida’s Space Coast.Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m. ET on May 9 with news of the new target launch date of May 9. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
