SpaceX plans a daytime departure Tuesday for the launch of a new set of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, one of two missions planned in less than seven days for the Falcon 9 rocket team on the West Coast.
The Falcon 9 rocket and its Starlink satellites will try to lift off Tuesday from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base with the blastoff targeted for 9:29 a.m. Backup launch opportunities will be available until 1:29 p.m.
If needed, additional launch opportunities are also available starting at 9:06 a.m. Wednesday.
The rocket will carry 20 Starlink satellites including 13 more equipped with direct-to-cell capabilities, the same configuration the firm launched Thursday from Vandenberg.
The first-stage booster, making its 18th flight, will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship positioned in the Pacific Ocean. Landing is expect approximately eight minutes after liftoff.
Starlink, designed and manufactured by SpaceX, involves thousands of satellites to provide Internet service across the globe, including places where the access isn’t available or reliable.
The 13 direct-to-cell satellites will join others previously launched to provide text and eventually voice capability via the Starlink system.
Meanwhile, SpaceX provided an update on the status of the approximately 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit after the weekend’s intense solar activity.
“All @Starlink satellites on-orbit weathered the geomagnetic storm and remain healthy,” the firm said Sunday.
The extreme geomagnetic storms provided breathtaking sights for sky watchers by generating auroras or northern lights seen by a large swath of the United States. But the solar storms also can take a toll on satellites in space along with electrical grids on Earth.
Tuesday’s Falcon 9 rocket mission reportedly is one of two planned in less than seven days for SpaceX at Vandenberg. The National Reconnaissance Office announced its plans for a payload to launch aboard a Falcon rocket from Vandenberg this weekend.
A live webcast of the Starlink mission is scheduled to begin on the SpaceX account on X (formerly Twitter) about five minutes before liftoff.