Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Friday morning launch will add another 21 satellites to the mega-constellation in low Earth orbit.

As it happens, the booster flying this mission, tail number B1067 in the SpaceX fleet, will also be making its 21st flight. Liftoff of the Starlink 8-3 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 8:13 a.m. EDT (1213 UTC).

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.

The Falcon 9 booster, B1067, flew a fifth of its previous missions in support of NASA. It launched the Crew-3 and Crew-4 astronaut missions to the International Space Station as well as two cargo missions as part of its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract.

B1067 also launched 11 previous batches of Starlink satellites.

About eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, B1067 will touchdown on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ If successful, it will mark the 88th booster landing on JRTI and the 336th booster landing to date.

Among the 21 Starlink satellites flying are 13 that support SpaceX’s Direct to Cell capabilities. The Starlink 8-3 mission will be the 55th dedicated Starlink launch in 2024 and the 118th launch of the V2 Mini variety of the satellites.

Following payload deployment, there will be a total of 142 DTC Starlink satellites on orbit.

Musical chairs launch schedule

The mission comes near the tail end of a week that has included the announcement of big changes to SpaceX’s launch manifest. On Tuesday, NASA announced that the upcoming Crew-9 mission would push from no earlier than August 18 to no earlier than September 24.

The move allows more time for the agency to reach a conclusion regarding how to end the Boeing Crew Flight Test. Part of those deliberations includes choosing on which vehicle to bring Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth.

If NASA ultimately decides to use the SpaceX Crew Dragon, that will mean the Crew-9 mission will launch with only two people on board. NASA officials declined to name which two would be flying.

We are targeting no earlier than August 26 for the launch of Polaris Dawn pic.twitter.com/tkkiRke64a

— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) August 7, 2024

The shuffle also means that the commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, will now target the launch of its four-person crew on a five-day mission no earlier than Aug. 26. The CRS-31 Cargo Dragon flight will also move to a launch in mid-October.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, SpaceX announced on social media that the hardware supporting Flight 5 of its Starship program is ready for launch, pending regulatory approval. The ambitious mission seeks to use the launch tower, nicknamed ‘Mechazilla,’ to catch the Super Heavy booster after stage separation.

Flight 5 Starship and Super Heavy are ready to fly, pending regulatory approval. Additional booster catch testing and Flight 6 vehicle testing is planned while waiting for clearance to fly pic.twitter.com/FFoGPEtztI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 8, 2024