1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

How to watch SpaceX launch a Falcon 9 on a Starlink mission tonight

By

Tonight SpaceX will launch a further batch of satellites to add to its Starlink constellation, and the launch will be livestreamed so you can watch along at home. Below we’ve got all the details on what to expect from the launch and how to watch it live as well.

Starlink Mission

What to expect from the launch

The launch, scheduled for Saturday, September 10, will take place from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Using a SpaceX Falcon 9, a batch of 34 Starlink satellites will be placed into low-Earth orbit.

Recommended Videos

Regular Starlink launch watchers will note that’s fewer than the typical batch of up to 60 satellites deployed by a Falcon 9, and that’s because the rocket will also be carrying an extra payload. It will additionally deploy a BlueWalker 3 satellite into low-Earth orbit for Texas-based communications company AST SpaceMobile.

As SpaceX is known for its reusable rockets, the first stage or booster of the Falcon 9 has flown on an impress 13 previous missions. The booster’s 14th mission marks a new record for how many times the company has reused a booster.

“The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and eight Starlink missions,” SpaceX writes. “Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This will also be Falcon 9’s first five-burn mission.”

A five-burn mission refers to the number of times the rocket will fire its engines during the course of the launch and booster landing.

How to watch the launch

The launch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET (6:10 p.m. PT) today, or, if the weather is bad another launch window is available tomorrow, Sunday, September 11, at 8:48 p.m. ET (5:48 p.m. PT).

The livestream of the launch is viewable either by heading to SpaceX’s YouTube channel or by using the video embedded near the top of this page. The livestream will begin around five minutes before launch, so just after 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. ET) tonight.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
SpaceX already has a date in mind for next Starship launch

SpaceX launched the mighty Starship for the first time in April last year, but it took a full seven months before it became airborne again.

Following the second test flight in November, SpaceX managed to get the Starship off the launchpad again just four months later in a spectacular flight that took place last week.

Read more
Take a high-speed ride on SpaceX’s emergency escape chute

SpaceX has put a Crew Dragon on Pad 40 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time. This means that going forward, SpaceX will have two pads to choose from when sending astronauts to space.

Up to now, crews launching on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft lift off from Pad 39A at Kennedy, but having another launch site available gives NASA and SpaceX greater flexibility when planning missions by easing pressure on teams if scheduling issues and traffic conflicts arise.

Read more
How to watch three crew members launch to the ISS on Thursday

This Thursday will see the launch of one NASA astronaut and two other crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), traveling on a Russian Soyuz vehicle. The crew includes a Russian cosmonaut and the first Belarusian in space.

NASA Astronaut Tracy Dyson Launch to the Space Station

Read more