Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 25 Starlink satellites to polar, low Earth orbit

SpaceX plans to launch 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning.

The Starlink 17-20 mission will send the broadband satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket will fly on a southerly trajectory upon leaving Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 7:38:20 a.m. PST (10:38:20 a.m. EST / 1538:20 UTC).

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to launch.

SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1097. This will be its sixth flight after launching Sentinel-6B, the Twilight ride share and three batches of Starlink satellites.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1097 is set to land on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 173rd landing on this vessel and the 563rd booster landing for SpaceX to date.