There might be one more SpaceX launch tonight (Nov. 7), if all goes in line with plan.
A Falcon 9 rocket is about to loft 23 more of SpaceX’s Starlink web satellites from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight at 11:01 EST (0401 GMT on Nov. 8). If SpaceX cannot hit that window, seven backup opportunities can be found between 11:23 p.m. EST and three:00 a.m. EST (0423 to 0800 GMT), in line with a SpaceX mission description.
You possibly can watch the motion live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly often known as Twitter). Coverage will begin about five minutes before liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: Easy methods to see and track it within the night sky
The Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth for a landing attempt about 8.5 minutes after launch on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions, which might be stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.
It is going to be the eleventh launch and landing for this rocket’s first stage, in line with the mission description.
The 23 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, are scheduled to deploy from the Falcon 9’s upper stage into low Earth orbit just below 65 minutes after liftoff.
Tonight’s mission might be SpaceX’s eightieth orbital launch of 2023. Nearly all of those flights have been dedicated to constructing out the Starlink megaconstellation, which beams web service all the way down to customers all over the world.
There are currently greater than 5,000 operational Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, in line with astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.