SpaceX is targeting Monday night for another spacex launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, sending a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit after a delay from Sunday evening. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:49 p.m. PT from Space Launch Complex 4 East in California.
The Falcon 9 rocket is expected to carry 27 Starlink satellites, though one mission description also lists 25 satellites for the same launch window. Either way, the flight adds to SpaceX’s fast-moving effort to expand the Starlink network, which provides broadband internet from a constellation of thousands of satellites orbiting about 550 km, or 341 3/4 miles, above Earth.
The booster supporting the mission is flying for the 10th time, a marker that underscores how much of SpaceX’s routine now depends on reuse. Falcon 9 is the company’s reusable, two-stage rocket and is widely described as the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket. After stage separation, the first stage is planned to land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
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That recovery plan has become part of the familiar rhythm of launches from California, where SpaceX rockets have previously been seen across Southern California skies. The company also plans a live webcast to begin about five minutes before liftoff on SpaceX.com, giving viewers a close look at one more attempt to add satellites to a network built to handle streaming, online gaming, video calls and other internet use.
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If the launch goes as scheduled, Monday night’s flight will be another reminder of how routine the spacex launch cycle has become for SpaceX — and how much the company now depends on Falcon 9 boosters that can fly, land and fly again. The real story is no longer whether the rocket can do it, but how often SpaceX can keep doing it on schedule.
