Liftoff is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET on Sunday (Jan. 19).

SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites Sunday (Jan. 19), just three days after a test flight of the company's Starship megarocket ended in an explosion.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday, during a 3.5-hour window that opens at 10:35 a.m. EST (1535 GMT; 7:35 a.m. local time).

SpaceX will webcast the action live via its X account, beginning about five minutes before launch.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You."

It will be the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Seven of its nine flights to date have been Starlink missions.

The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, will haul the 27 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there 61.5 minutes after liftoff.

 

Sunday's launch will be the ninth Falcon 9 mission of 2025 and SpaceX's 10th liftoff of the year overall.

The other launch was the seventh-ever test flight of SpaceX's Starshipmegarocket, which took place on Thursday (Jan. 16) from South Texas.

That flight was a mixed bag for the company. Starship's giant first-stage booster came back to its launch site for a dramatic catch by the tower's "chopstick" arms, but the vehicle's upper stage exloded just 8.5 minutes after liftoff, apparently after suffering a propellant leak.

Quelle: SC

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Update: 18:30 MEZ

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SpaceX is targeting Monday, January 20 for a Falcon 9 launch of 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:13 a.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:13 a.m. PT. If needed, additional launch opportunities are also available Tuesday, January 21 starting at 6:51 a.m. PT.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.

This is the 10th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Oneweb 4, USSF-62, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

There is the possibility that residents of and visitors to Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

Quelle: SpaceX

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SpaceX targeting early Tuesday morning for Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida

After a unique space-industry week featuring the historic Blue Origin New Glenn maiden launch and SpaceX's spectacular Starship explosion and booster catch, the Space Coast's launch schedule resumes early Tuesday morning with another workhorse Starlink mission.

Details: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift another payload of Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory shows.

Tuesday's 4½-hour launch window opens at 12:13 a.m. EST and lasts until 4:44 a.m. The Falcon 9 will lift off from pad 39A. SpaceX has yet to release more information on the mission.

No Central Florida sonic booms should occur — instead, the rocket's first-stage booster will target landing aboard a SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starlink mission is slated to become the eighth orbital launch thus far this year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and KSC.

To follow FLORIDA TODAY Space Team live coverage of Tuesday's mission, visit floridatoday.com/space starting about 90 minutes before liftoff.

Quelle: Florida Today