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 its latest Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink mission as Tropical Storm Helene threatens the timeline for the next mission to the International Space Station.

Liftoff of the Starlink 9-8 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is set for 9:01 p.m. PDT (12:01 a.m. EDT, 0401 UTC). This will be SpaceX’s 64th Starlink launch of the year.

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

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1081 in the SpaceX fleet, will be launching for a 10th time. It previously supported the launch of two missions to the space station (Crew-7 and CRS-29), two climate monitoring satellites (NASA’s PACE and ESA’s EarthCARE) and the Transporter-10 rideshare mission.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1081 is set to land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ If successful, this will be the 103 booster landing for OCISLY and the 351st booster landing to date.

Among the 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites flying on the mission are 13 that feature the Direct to Cell capability. A successful deployment of all satellites will bring the total DTC Starlink satellites launched to 233.

Starlink’s high-speed internet is now available in Burundi! → https://t.co/p23nRZUB2C pic.twitter.com/mHtu5ZNVum

— Starlink (@Starlink) September 24, 2024

On Tuesday morning, SpaceX announced that the Republic of Burundi was the latest to nation to receive access to the Starlink internet service. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lauren Dreyer, the vice president of Starlink Business Operations, posted about the development, which comes about a year after she and another SpaceX representative visited Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye to discuss the proposal.

“Great to see Burundi live for Starlink sales. At last year’s UN General Assembly, I had the opportunity to meet President Ndayishimiye to discuss this possibility,” Dreyer wrote. “We appreciate everyone who helped make it a reality.”

The announcement was first shared by Burundi’s Telecommunications Regulatory and Control Authority on Monday. ARCT Director General Samuel Muhizi said in a letter (written in French and translated using Google Translate) that the goal of bringing the service was “to contribute to the provision of high-speed and reliable internet access in our country and will be accessible to all individuals and businesses wishing to benefit from the service.”

“The ARCT remains committed to closely monitoring Starlink’s operation to ensure compliance with current regulations, ensure optimal quality of service and consumer protection,” Muhizi wrote in his letter as translated by Google Translate. “Our goal is to promote equitable access to communication technologies. ARCT is convinced that the addition of this low Earth orbit satellite internet access provision to the Burundian ecosystem of access technologies to provide high-speed internet connection will improve broadband connectivity.”

Lauren Dreyer, the vice president of Starlink Business Operations, spoke with Evariste Ndayishimiye, the president of the Republic of Burundi, about bringing Starlink service to the country during a meeting 2023. Image: Ntare Rushatsi House

Crew-9 weather delay

While the West Coast SpaceX team is preparing for the Starlink 9-8 launch, those on the East Coast are working towards the next crewed launch to the ISS. On Tuesday, NASA and SpaceX were set to walk through the dry dress rehearsal with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexandr Gorbunov in the loop.

Following that, SpaceX will perform a static fire test of B1085 at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. These preparations will pave the way for the first crewed launch from SLC-40 in its history.

However, while the prelaunch activities are remaining on track, the impacts of Tropical Storm Helene are altering the launch timeline. In its fifth advisory, meteorologists with the 45th Weather Squadron forecast the storm to become a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) as the center of the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico.

They forecast Helene to approach landfall along the Florida Panhandle as a Category 3 hurricane around 8 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC) on Thursday, Sept. 26.

Multiple sources confirm that the Crew-9 launch is set to delay to no earlier than Saturday, Sept. 28. As of publication, neither NASA nor SpaceX have publicly announced the adjustment in launch dates.

When it launches, Hague and Gorbunov will join those on the ISS to become part of Expedition 72. They will remain on orbit until about February 2025 when they will return to Earth alongside NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams.

Falcon 9 and Dragon rolled out and went vertical at pad 40 in Florida pic.twitter.com/RUGF1UBxLK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 24, 2024