Current:Home > NewsSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff. -Wealth Navigators Hub
SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites today. How to watch the Falcon 9 liftoff.
View
Date:2025-04-21 12:48:42
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! (6)
Related
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Legal fight expected after New Mexico governor suspends the right to carry guns in public
- The African Union is joining the G20, a powerful acknowledgement of a continent of 1 billion people
- Slow AF Run Club's Martinus Evans talks falling off a treadmill & running for revenge
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Jennifer Lopez, Sofia Richie and More Stars Turn Heads at Ralph Lauren's NYFW 2024 Show
- Jimmy Buffett's new music isn't over yet: 3 songs out now, album due in November
- Moroccan villagers mourn after earthquake brings destruction to their rural mountain home
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Pelosi announces she'll run for another term in Congress as Democrats seek to retake House
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa not worried about CTE, concussions in return
- Crashing the party: Daniil Medvedev upsets Carlos Alcaraz to reach US Open final
- House GOP seeks access to Biden's vice presidential records from Archives, seeking any information about contacts with Hunter Biden or his business partners
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- How to watch NFL RedZone: Stream providers, start time, cost, host, more
- A Minnesota meat processing plant that is accused of hiring minors agrees to pay $300K in penalties
- Philips Respironics agrees to $479 million CPAP settlement
Recommendation
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Sarah Ferguson Shares Heartwarming Update on Queen Elizabeth II's Corgis One Year After Her Death
Special election in western Pennsylvania to determine if Democrats or GOP take control of the House
Amazon to require some authors to disclose the use of AI material
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
Travis Barker Returns to Blink-182 Tour After Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian's Emergency Surgery
'Brought to tears': Coco Gauff describes the moments after her US Open win
Across the Northern Hemisphere, now’s the time to catch a new comet before it vanishes for 400 years