West Coast SpaceX Falcon 9 mission to launch 25 Starlink satellites – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is counting down to the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying one other 25 satellites for its Starlink web service.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 9:29:49 pm PDT (12:29:49 am EDT / 04:29:49 UTC). The Falcon 9 will depart from the central California coast on a southerly trajectory, because it targets an orbit of 258 x 246 km, with a 97-degree inclination.

Spaceflight Now may have dwell protection beginning about half-hour prior to liftoff.

The Starlink 17-27 mission is SpaceX’s forty sixth Falcon 9 launch of the yr and can use a first-stage booster making its twenty first flight. Booster B1082 entered the SpaceX fleet in January 2024 and has already launched 17 earlier Starlink supply missions. It additionally flew the USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20, and NROL-145 missions.

Slightly greater than eight minutes after liftoff, the primary stage will goal a touchdown on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned within the Pacific Ocean. The 25 Starlink V2 Mini satellites stacked atop the second stage will deploy about an hour into flight.