SpaceX launching 20 Starlink satellites from California tonight
SpaceX will launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California’s central coast tonight (Nov. 13).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight at 11:21 p.m. EST (8:21 p.m. local California time; 0321 GMT on Nov. 14).
SpaceX will webcast the action live via X, beginning about five minutes before launch.
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth for a vertical touchdown about eight minutes after liftoff. It will land on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
It will be the eighth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Five of its previous seven flights were Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage will haul the 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there about 60 minutes after liftoff.
Starlink is the biggest satellite constellation ever built — and it’s continuously growing, as tonight’s planned launch shows. There are currently more than 6,500 active Starlink spacecraft, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, 270 of which are direct-to-cell capable.
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