Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

SpaceX is preparing to launch its third Falcon 9 rocket in less than 41 hours. On deck is the flight of the Starlink 17-11 mission, which will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday night.

Liftoff of the mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 9:17 p.m. PDT (12:17 a.m. EDT / 0417 UTC). The rocket will deploy 24 of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit a little more than an hour into the mission.

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

The mission will feature first stage booster B1082, making its 16th flight following the launches of NROL-145, USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20 and 12 previous batches of Starlink satellites.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1082 will perform an autonomous landing on the SpaceX drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You. If all goes well, this will be the 153rd landing with this vessel and the 512th booster landing to date.

The mission will be SpaceX’s 475th launch of a flight-proven booster and the 540th overall launch of a Falcon 9 rocket.