SpaceX plans to launch another batch of Starlink internet satellites today (January 18), just two days after a test flight of its giant Starship rocket ended in an explosion.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink spacecraft was launched today in a nearly two-hour window starting at 12:03 pm ET (17:03 GMT, 9:03 am local time) to California It is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
SpaceX will webcast the action live through its X account starting approximately five minutes before launch.
If all goes according to plan, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff and land in the Pacific Ocean aboard the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You.
SpaceX said this will be the booster’s 10th launch and landing. Mission description. Seven of the nine flights to date have been Starlink missions.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage will carry 27 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, where it will be deployed 61.5 minutes after liftoff.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
Today’s launch marks the ninth Falcon 9 mission in 2025 and the 10th launch for SpaceX overall.
The other launch was the seventh-ever test flight of SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket from South Texas on Thursday (January 16).
The flight was a mixed bag for the company. Starship’s huge first stage booster returned to the launch site for a dramatic catch by the tower’s “chopstick” arm, but the upper stage exploded just eight and a half minutes after liftoff. Apparently there was a propellant leak.
