Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites into polar orbit on Falcon 9 rocket from California

SpaceX is preparing for a rare launch of its Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites into a polar orbit shortly after sunset on Friday night.

The mission, dubbed Starlink 17-3, will add another 24 satellites into the company’s megaconstellation consisting of more than 7,900 satellites on orbit, according to statistics compiled by expert orbital tracker and astronomer, Jonathan McDowell.

SpaceX is targeting liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:51 p.m. PDT (11:51 p.m. EDT / 0351 UTC).

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

The Falcon 9 first stage booster being used on this mission, tail number B1082, will launch for a 14th time. Its previous missions include NROL-145, USSF-62 and OneWeb #20.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1082 will target a landing on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 141st booster landing on this vessel and the 477th booster landing to date.

In an update posted to its Starlink website on Monday, July 14, SpaceX said part of its plan to further scale up its Starlink network, it planned to deploy hundreds of satellites into a polar orbit to improve connectivity in polar regions, like Alaska.

“We plan to launch more than 400 additional satellites to the polar inclination by the end of 2025 alone, which will more than double the capacity for Alaskan customers alone, as well as other high latitude locations,” SpaceX wrote. “The first of these additional satellites have begun to serve Alaskan users already, nearly doubling median peak-hour download speeds over the past month.”

The reference to the first of these satellites is connected to the company’s launch of the Starlink 17-1 mission on May 27. That mission, which also happened to use B1082, also launched 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into a polar orbit at a 97 degree inclination.

SpaceX’s nod to launching more than 400 satellites to this orbit before the end of the year suggest this will be the majority of its focus for its West Coast launches. The goal would need more than 16 launches of at least 24 satellites apiece.

Following the Friday night flight, SpaceX will turn its attention to a rideshare mission for NASA, which is highlighted by the agency’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) payload.

Launching soon: A new mission to study magnetic explosions in space!

NASA’s TRACERS, a pair of washing machine-sized satellites, will orbit Earth to capture the explosive moments when the Sun’s magnetic field collides and fuses with Earth’s.

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— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) July 16, 2025