SpaceX will launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida tonight (May 22), the second mission in less than 24 hours for the company.
TO Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Star Link The spacecraft is scheduled to take off from Florida. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight during a four-hour window that opens at 10:35 pm EDT (0235 GMT on May 23).
SpaceX will stream the launch live through your X account, starting about five minutes before the window opens.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
The first stage of the Falcon 9 will return Land about 8 minutes after launch, if everything goes according to plan; You will land on the unmanned ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be the eighth launch and landing of this particular first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description. Among its seven previous takeoffs were three Starlink missions and the Ax-2 and Axe-3 Private astronaut missions to the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage will carry the 23 Starlink satellites to low earth orbit (LEO), deploying them there about 65 minutes after takeoff.
Tonight's takeoff will be the second of the day for SpaceX. Early this morning, the company launched the NROL-146 mission Of California Vandenberg Space Force Basesending a set of satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office
That was already SpaceX's 52nd orbital launch this year. Thirty-six of those missions have been dedicated to building the enormous and ever-growing Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of around 5,950 satellites in operation.
