Update Sept. 13, 9:12 a.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back the T-0 time.
SpaceX is heading into the weekend preparing for its latest Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The Starlink 17-10 mission on Saturday will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. Following the deployment more than an hour after liftoff, SpaceX will have more than 8,400 satellites in low Earth orbit, according to stats tracked by expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 10:55 a.m. PDT (1:55 p.m. EDT / 1755 UTC). This will be SpaceX’s 42nd launch from California this year.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
SpaceX will launch the Starlink 17-10 mission using its second-most flown Falcon 9 first stage booster: B1071. This will be its 28th flight after launching 16 previous batches of Starlink satellites, five missions for the National Reconnaissance Office and four rideshare missions.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after taking off from the launch pad, SpaceX will attempt to land B1071 on its drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If all goes well, this will be the 151st successful recovery with this vessel and the 504th booster landing to date.