A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch 23 Starlink internet satellites tonight (Oct. 29), marking the second mission of the day.
Watch the liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT). Backup opportunities are available between 8:17 p.m. EDT and 10:47 p.m. EDT (0017 to 0247 GMT on Oct. 30) if necessary, according to a SpaceX mission description.
View the live action on SpaceX‘s account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Coverage begins shortly before liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
If all goes as planned, the Falcon 9’s first stage will land vertically on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 8.5 minutes after launch. This will mark the eighth launch and landing for this rocket’s first stage.
Following liftoff, the 23 Starlink satellites are expected to deploy into low Earth orbit about 65.5 minutes after liftoff.
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This launch is part of SpaceX’s Sunday Starlink doubleheader, with 22 Starlink satellites scheduled for deployment from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base earlier in the day.
Starlink is SpaceX’s revolutionary broadband megaconstellation that provides internet service to customers worldwide. With over 5,000 Starlink satellites launched to date, SpaceX aims to deploy 12,000 of these spacecraft and has requested approval for an additional 30,000.
