File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) ahead of the launch of the Starlink 12-21 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX plans to launch another 28 optimized Starlink V2 Mini satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday night.
Liftoff of the Starlink 6-74 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 on Thursday, April 24, is targeted 9:52 p.m. EDT (0152 UTC). The rocket will follow a south-easterly trajectory once it leaves the pad.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
On Wednesday, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance of favorable weather during launch.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster that will be used on this mission, tail number B1069 in the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a 23rd time. Its previous flights included CRS-24, Eutelsat Hotbird 13F and 18 batches of Starlink satellites.
About eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1069 will target a landing on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, stationed in the Atlantic east of the Bahamas If successful, this will be the 105th booster landing on this particular drone ship and the 435th booster landing to date.
Deployment of the 28 satellites, believed to be the lighter-weight optimized V2 mini models, is scheduled to occur one hour five minutes into flight.
On Tuesday, SpaceX said it is now offering Starlink service in the eastern Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as it continues to roll out the satellite internet service worldwide.