Live coverage: SpaceX plans mid-afternoon Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg SFB

SpaceX is preparing for a predawn launch on Saturday, March 7, from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Starlink 17-18 mission will add 25 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s megaconstellation of more than 9,900 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. 

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled at 2:59:40 a.m. PST (5:59:40 a.m. EST / 1059:40 UTC). The rocket will fly on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.

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

SpaceX will launch the Starlink 17-18 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1097. This will be its seventh flight, following the launches of Twilight, Sentinel-6B and four batches of Starlink satellites.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1097 will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 182nd landing for this vessel and the 582nd booster landing to date for SpaceX.