Skip to main content

How to watch SpaceX launch Starlink satellites and two payloads tonight

Starlink Mission

Tonight, SpaceX will continue to expand its constellation of Starlink satellites to provide global broadband internet. The company will be launching a rocket from Florida, and the launch will be streamed live so you can watch along from home.

What to expect from the Starlink launch

A Falcon 9 rocket will be launching a batch of 52 Starlink satellites in addition to two other payloads: A Capella Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, and a smallsat from a California company called Tyvak-0130.

As is typical for SpaceX missions, several parts of the Falcon 9 rocket in this launch have been used before in previous missions. SpaceX seems to have cracked the reusable rocket concept, having recently used a Falcon 9 rocket booster on its 10th mission, which was the company’s long-stated goal for reusability.

For this Starlink mission, the booster being used has been on several previous missions. As SpaceX writes, “The Falcon 9 first-stage booster that supported this mission previously launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and three Starlink missions.”

In addition, both halves of the fairing being used have flown on previous missions, with one half used in the SXM-7 mission, and the other used in the NROL-108 mission.

How to watch the Starlink launch

The launch is scheduled to take place at 6:54 p.m. ET (3:54 PT) on Saturday, May 15, from from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If weather or other conditions prevent the launch from going ahead, there is a backup window tomorrow, Sunday, May 16. However, the weather at Cape Canaveral is predicted to be fine and sunny today, so it looks likely that the launch can go ahead as planned.

SpaceX will be livestreaming the launch so you’ll be able to watch it live. This includes the last-minute preparations before launch, the launch itself, the landing of the Falcon 9’s first stage on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean, and confirmation of the deployment of the Starlink satellites and other payloads.

You can watch the livestream either on SpaceX’s YouTube channel or by using the video embedded at the top of this page. The livestream is set to begin around 15 minutes before the launch takes place, so that’s around 6:40 p.m. ET (3:40 p.m. PT).

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
SpaceX given green light to send mighty Starship rocket skyward
A Super Heavy booster on the launchpad at SpaceX's site in Texas.

A Super Heavy booster on the launchpad at SpaceX's site in Texas. SpaceX / SpaceX

SpaceX has been given the green light to send its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft skyward in what will be only the second test launch of the world's most powerful spaceflight system.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX launch world’s most powerful rocket on Saturday
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

 

UPDATE: SpaceX has called off Friday's launch of the Starship and is now targeting Saturday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post that engineers need to replace a grid fin actuator on the first-stage Super Heavy booster, a part which helps to steer the vehicle back to Earth. This article has been updated with the new launch schedule.

Read more
SpaceX says it could fly Starship on Friday, but it depends on one thing
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX has said it could be in a position to perform the second launch of its next-generation Starship rocket this Friday, though it added that it can only happen once it’s received the nod from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX said in a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read more