Current:Home > MarketsSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff. -PureWealth Academy
SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff.
Rekubit View
Date:2025-04-08 14:58:27
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! (8)
Related
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- John Lennon's ex May Pang says he 'really wanted' to write songs with Paul McCartney again
- Aid groups scramble to help as Israel-Hamas war intensifies and Gaza blockade complicates efforts
- The Best Amazon October Prime Day 2023 Deals Under $25
- From bitter rivals to Olympic teammates, how Lebron and Steph Curry became friends
- Florida’s Republican attorney general will oppose abortion rights amendment if it makes ballot
- Diamondbacks are stunning baseball world, leaving Dodgers on the brink of elimination
- Unprecedented Israeli bombardment lays waste to upscale Rimal, the beating heart of Gaza City
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Biden interviewed in special counsel investigation into documents found at his office and home
Ranking
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Voters in Iowa community to decide whether to give City Council more control over library books
- Hurricane Lidia takes aim at Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort with strengthening winds
- University of Wisconsin System will change its name to The Universities of Wisconsin by 2024
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- Former Haitian senator pleads guilty in US court to charges related to Haiti president’s killing
- California man’s remains found in Arizona in 1982 identified decades later through DNA testing
- House Republicans still unclear on how quickly they can elect new speaker
Recommendation
Plunge Into These Olympic Artistic Swimmers’ Hair and Makeup Secrets
Guns N' Roses forced to relocate Phoenix concert after stadium team make baseball playoffs
The 'Margaritaville' snail: meet the new species named after a Jimmy Buffett song
New Mexico governor defends approach to attempted gun restrictions, emergency order on gun violence
Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
Jury deliberates in first trial in Elijah McClain's death
Birkenstock prices its initial public offering of stock valuing the sandal maker at $8.64 billion
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice advises Republican leader against impeachment