CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX will launch its next fleet of Starlink satellites into orbit for the company’s broadband mega – constellation on Wednesday (March 24) and you can watch the pre-launch live online.
The Hawthorne, California-based company will load 60 Starlink Internet satellites on its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here in Florida. 04:28 EDT (0828 GMT).
You can watch the launch here live and on the Space.com homepage, with permission from SpaceX, approximately 15 minutes before the setup begins. You can also watch the launch directly via SpaceX.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Mega Constellation Introduces Photos
Wednesday’s flight, the Starlink 22 mission, is the fourth Starlink mission this month and the 23rd overall for the emerging Internet service.
SpaceX’s goal is to provide high-speed Internet access to users around the world through its Starlink mega-constellation. By using a small terminal (not larger than a laptop), users on the ground can connect to the ever-growing network.
To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,300 of the Internet radiation satellites into orbit in an effort to complete the planned initial constellation of 1,440 spacecraft. SpaceX has already extensively tested the space-based Internet service and wants to do a full commercial implementation later this year.
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This launch is the 110th flight for SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket. There is expected to be a veteran Falcon 9 first phase, B1060, with five flights behind it. This regular kite previously launched an upgraded GPS satellite for the U.S. Army, a Turkish communications satellite, three previous Starlink missions.
If all goes according to plan, B1060 will touch one of SpaceX’s two drones about nine minutes after takeoff – “Of course I still like you.” If successful, it will be the 78th recovery of a first-phase booster since the company landed its first booster in December 2015.
The weather forecast looks good for the lifting of Wednesday early in the morning, with forecasters at the 45th Weather Squadron predicting a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions. The only problem was the possible development of cumulus clouds.
SpaceX will continue its tradition of repairing the Falcon 9’s payload cap, or nose cone, on Wednesday’s flight. The company’s twin-only-equipped boats – called GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief – expands this mission.
In their place is a new boat: the Shelia Bordelon. It will pick up the mantle and scoop up the hoods after it has fallen back to earth in two pieces.
Each piece of damp-like hardware, which together cost about $ 6 million, is equipped with software that navigates it to the recycling zone, and a parachute system that allows them to land gently in the sea.
The Shelia Bordelon will be joined by another SpaceX ship, the GO Quest, for its first recovery mission, with the Sheila Bordelon using a crane on board to do all the lifting.
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