SpaceX will send a new batch of its Starlink satellites into orbit today (Sept. 4) and you'll be able to watch it live online in a lunchtime launch.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 21 Starlink internet satellites to space from the company's Space Launch Complex 40 pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:07 p.m. EDT (1607 GMT). You can watch it live on SpaceX's X account (formerly Twitter), starting about five minutes before liftoff.
SpaceX initially aimed to launch the Starlink 8-11 mission, as the company calls it, at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 GMT), but moved the flight up nearly an hour. Included among the new Starlink satellites are 13 units with "Direct to Cell" capabilities, SpaceX said in a mission description. The company has backup launch windows at 12:59 p.m. EDT (1659 GMT) today and early Thursday (Sept. 5) if needed.
SpaceX's Starlink 8-11 mission will fly on a veteran Falcon 9 first-stage booster that is making its 15th flight with today's launch. The booster is expected to return to Earth just over eight minutes after liftoff, landing on SpaceX's drone ship Just Read The Instructions nearby in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Falcon 9 rocket previously launched eight Starlink missions, NASA's Crew-5 astronaut flight in March 2023, a Northrop Grumman NG-20 Cygnus cargo mission and a Dragon supply flight for NASA, two commercial satellite missions and one Space Force GPS III flight.
Today's launch will be the third Starlink mission in a week as SpaceX continues to build up its space-based megaconstellation to provide high-speed internet access around the globe. The company launched two Starlink missions, each with 21 satellites, in just over an hour on Saturday (Aug. 31). Like today's flight, each of those earlier missions included 13 direct-to-cell satellites, which can provide internet service directly to mobile smartphones.
All three Starlink missions come less than a week after a failed Falcon 9 booster landing at sea on Aug. 28. A Federal Aviation Administration investigation into that issue is ongoing, but SpaceX was cleared for launches while it is underway, FAA officials have said.