Current:Home > MarketsSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff. -EliteFunds
SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff.
View
Date:2025-04-18 04:14:22
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! (757)
Related
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- The Rock at WrestleMania 40: What to know about return to WWE for 'The People's Champion'
- 18 gunmen and 10 security force members die in clashes in Iran’s southeast, state media reports
- Final Four expert picks: Does Purdue or North Carolina State prevail in semifinals?
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Paul McCartney gushes about Beyoncé’s version of 'Blackbird' on her new 'Cowboy Carter' album
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard Shares She’s Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery
- Effortlessly Cool Jumpsuits, Rompers, Overalls & More for Coachella, Stagecoach & Festival Season
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- More than 2 million Black+Decker garment steamers recalled after dozens scalded
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- New York can take legal action against county’s ban on female transgender athletes, judge says
- U.S. companies announced over 90,000 job cuts in March — the highest number since January 2023
- New York lawmakers push back budget deadline again
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Carla Gugino reflects on being cast as a mother in 'Spy Kids' in her 20s: 'Totally impossible'
- Hailey Van Lith enters transfer portal after one season with LSU women's basketball
- Brooke Shields Reveals How One of Her Auditions Involved Farting
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
More than 1 in 8 people feel mistreated during childbirth, new study finds
Powerball winning numbers for April 3 drawing: Did anyone win $1.09 billion jackpot?
US jobs report for March is likely to point to slower but still-solid hiring
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
Federal report finds 68,000 guns were illegally trafficked through unlicensed dealers over 5 years
What Sean Diddy Combs Is Up to in Miami After Home Raids
Chiefs’ Rashee Rice was driving Lamborghini in Dallas chain-reaction crash, his attorney says