Live coverage: SpaceX to launch West Coast Falcon 9 with Starlink satellites

SpaceX is preparing to send another a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Friday afternoon.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is targeted for 1:36 p.m. PDT (4:36 p.m. EDT, 2036 UTC).

The mission, dubbed Starlink 11-16, carries 27 satellites onboard. With this flight, SpaceX will have launched a total of 8,700 Starlink satellites into orbit, of which more than 7,500 remain in orbit, according to expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell.

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

SpaceX is using Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1075, which will make its 18th flight. It’s previous missions include Transporter-11, SARah-2 and 14 batches of Starlink satellites.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1075 will target a landing on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 131st landing on this vessel and the 450th booster landing to date.