Live coverage: SpaceX to launch first West Coast Starlink mission of 2026

Update Jan. 21 8:33 p.m. EST (0133 UTC): SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.

SpaceX is set to launch its first West Coast Starlink mission of the year and will send its satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. 

The Starlink 17-30 mission will add 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to the company’s megaconstellation. This will be SpaceX’s sixth Starlink mission so far in 2026.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 8:09 p.m. PST (11:09 p.m. EST / 0409 UTC). The rocket will fly on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

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

SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1093. This will be its 10th flight after launching two flights for the Space Development Agency and seven previous batches of Starlink satellites.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1093 will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 172nd landing on this vessel and the 562nd orbital booster landing for SpaceX.