Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 20 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base

A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday night. The near-sunset flight will add another 20 Starlink satellites to its growing mega-constellation of more than 6,000 satellites in low Earth orbit.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) is set for 7:35 p.m. PDT (10:35 p.m. EDT, 0235 UTC). The mission includes an additional 13 satellites that feature the direct to cell capabilities.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

The first stage booster launching this mission, tail number B1063 in the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a 19th time. Its previous launches include NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, the Transporter-7 rideshare mission and 13 batches of Starlink satellites.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1063 will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 96th landing on OCISLY and the 329th booster landing to date.

In a recent social media post, Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink Engineering, advertised the availability in the United States of a roaming feature for its newer Starlink Mini terminals, which are smaller than an average backpack.

The service comes at a monthly cost of $150 for unlimited mobile data or $50 for a monthly cap of 50 gigabytes of data. A Starlink Mini terminal costs $599 before tax.