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SpaceX will send another set of its Starlink satellites to space on Friday (June 23) and you can watch the whole thing live for free.
SpaceX plans to send 56 Starlink satellites aloft at 9:56 a.m. EDT (1356 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. When livestream information is available, Space.com will post it here for you to watch.
The Falcon 9 will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with the first stage coming down eight minutes later on a nearby drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean called A Shortfall of Gravitas. The Starlinks will deploy about 65 minutes after launch.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches a batch of the company’s Starlink broadband satellites on March 3, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX says the first stage has already supported numerous missions, including a resupply mission to the International Space Station known as CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19, and three other Starlink missions.
Backup opportunities for the launch are also available on Saturday (June 24) at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT) and later on Saturday at 10:46 a.m. EDT (14:46 GMT), SpaceX officials wrote in a launch advisory.
SpaceX has sent more than 4,500 Starlink satellites to space already, and roughly 4,200 of them are operational, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
But SpaceX wants to keep growing the megaconstellation. The company has permission to send 12,000 of the broadband satellites to space and has applied for approval for another 30,000.
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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. Elizabeth’s reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, “Why Am I Taller?”, is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada’s Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada’s Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace
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