Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket with 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 22 second-generation Starlink internet satellites at 7:56 p.m. EDT (2356 UTC) Friday evening from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Additional launch opportunities are available at 11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 UTC) and 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 UTC). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean. The booster is making its 7th flight.

According to the 45th Weather Squadron, in a forecast issued on Thursday, there is a 60-percent chance of acceptable conditions for the first launch opportunity, improving to 85 percent for the later launch opportunities.

Our live coverage from Cape Canaveral, with commentary by Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith, will begin about an hour before launch.