Skip to main content

How to watch SpaceX Starlink launch with booster on 13th mission

In a few hours, SpaceX will launch a further batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit using one of its Falcon 9 rockets. The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and the company will livestream it so you can watch along at home. Read on for all the details and how to watch.

Starlink Mission

What to expect from the launch

SpaceX regularly launches fresh batches of Starlink satellites to add to its constellation which aims to provide global broadband-speed internet via satellite. The company typically launches between 50 and 60 satellites per batch, and the rocket used in today’s launch will carry 53 satellites into very low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX is famous for its reusable boosters, as once a Falcon 9 first stage is no longer needed it separates from its rocket and returns to Earth, either to land on solid ground or, more commonly, to be caught by a droneship stationed in the ocean. After it separates from the rocket today, the booster will be caught by the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The particular booster being used in today’s Falcon 9 launch has flown on 12 previous missions, including the first crewed test of SpaceX’s crew spacecraft Dragon called Demo-2, as well as the RADARSAT Constellation Mission, SXM-7, and nine previous Starlink missions.

How to watch the launch

The launch is scheduled for 10:20 a.m. ET (7:20 a.m. PT) on Sunday, July 17. If poor weather or any other issue forces the launch to be called off, there is another launch window available tomorrow, Monday, June 18, at 10:28 a.m. ET (7:28 a.m. PT).

Coverage of the launch is available from SpaceX, and you can watch it either by going to SpaceX’s YouTube channel or by using the video embedded at the top of this page. Coverage is scheduled to begin around 10 minutes before liftoff, so a bit after 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT).

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
How to watch SpaceX launch the third flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday
Starship stacked

SpaceX has announced when it will hold the next test of its Starship rocket. Itwill be the third test flight of the vehicle to date. The launch aims to send the vehicle, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, on a new trajectory, with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX will be live-streaming the launch, and we have the details on how to watch below.

Read more
SpaceX’s mighty Starship rocket stacked for 3rd test flight
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster ahead of its third test flight.

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster ahead of its third test flight. SpaceX

SpaceX has stacked the Starship rocket in preparation for its third test flight.

Read more
How to watch homecoming SpaceX astronauts fly overhead on Tuesday
SpaceX's Crew-6 reentering Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronauts undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:20 a.m. ET on Monday after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov are expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at around 5:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning. If the skies are clear, folks in more than a dozen states will be able to witness the crew’s homecoming as the capsule flies overhead.

Read more