Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

SpaceX is preparing to launch back-to-back Falcon 9 rockets on Sunday from both California and Florida. Up first is the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is targeting 3:41 p.m. PDT (6:41 p.m. EDT, 2241 UTC). Assuming Firefly Aerospace is able to launch its Alpha rocket Sunday morning, this Falcon 9 flight will be the 18th orbital launch of the year from VSFB.

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 B1063 in the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a 25th time. Its previous missions include 16 batches of Starlink satellites, three flights for the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft.

B1063 is the second most flown booster for SpaceX, currently tied with B1071 at 24 trips to space and back. The Falcon booster flight leader remains B1067, which has flown 27 times, most recently on April 14 on the Starlink 6-73 mission.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1063 will target a landing on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 127th booster landing on OCISLY and the 437th booster landing to date.

SpaceX is also planning to launch a second Falcon 9 rocket Sunday night on the Starlink 12-23 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That mission will send 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, which include 13 that have Direct to Cell capabilities.