Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket on 90th Starlink mission of 2025

SpaceX is preparing for its first Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida in more than a week. It’s a launch gap highlighted by a run of persistent, daily storms in Central Florida and over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starlink 10-59 mission will add 28 more broadband internet satellites into the growing megaconstellation. Prior to this launch, SpaceX has more than 8,500 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, according to astronomer an expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell.

SpaceX is targeting liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a four-hour launch window that opens at 12:10 a.m. EDT (0410 UTC). There are multiple opportunities throughout the window, which will be refined closer to liftoff. At present the first launch opportunity is at 12:13 a.m. EDT (0412 UTC).

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 65 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window. Meteorologists’ primary concerns are related to liftoff winds and cumulus clouds.

“Although deep tropical moisture will likely enhance shower activity during the day, that activity should diminish by window opening and the main concern for Tuesday morning’s launch attempt is liftoff winds, which may periodically exceed threshold,” launch weather officers wrote.

SpaceX will use the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1090, which will launch for an eighth time. Its previous missions include Crew-10, CRS-33 and Bandwagon-3.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1090 will perform an automated landing on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ If successful, this will be the 127th landing on this vessel and the 515th booster landing to date.