Current:Home > ContactSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff. -Keystone Capital Education
SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff.
View
Date:2025-04-17 14:16:20
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! (7)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- A new purple tomato is available to gardeners. Its color comes from snapdragon DNA
- Ex-NFL quarterback Favre must finish repaying misspent welfare money, Mississippi auditor says
- Illinois man gets 5 years for trying to burn down planned abortion clinic
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Celine Dion makes rare appearance at Grammys after stiff-person syndrome diagnosis, presenting award to Taylor Swift
- Lionel Messi speaks in Tokyo: Inter Miami star explains injury, failed Hong Kong match
- Super Bowl overtime rules: What to know if NFL's biggest game has tie after regulation
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Family of Black girls handcuffed by Colorado police, held at gunpoint reach $1.9 million settlement
Ranking
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Prince Harry to visit King Charles following his father's cancer diagnosis
- Toby Keith dies after cancer battle: What to know about stomach cancer
- Super Bowl 2024 commercials will have brands betting big on celebrity appeal and comebacks
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Meet the newscaster in drag making LGBTQ+ history in Mexican television
- Singer Toby Keith Dead at 62 After Cancer Battle
- Prince Harry to visit King Charles following his father's cancer diagnosis
Recommendation
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed, with China up after state fund says it will buy stocks
California power outage map: Over 100,000 customers remain without power Tuesday as storm batters state
Ex-NFL quarterback Favre must finish repaying misspent welfare money, Mississippi auditor says
What to watch: O Jolie night
Ship targeted in suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drone attack in southern Red Sea as tensions high
Man with samurai sword making threats arrested in Walmart, police say
Kelsea Ballerini Speaks Out After Her Candid Reaction to Grammys Loss Goes Viral