SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites on Sunday after scrub and delays – Space.com

SpaceX is planning to launch 22 Starlink internet satellites on Tuesday (Jan. 23), after a series of earlier attempts that ended in delays and an unexplained abort.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft is set to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:35 p.m. EST (4:35 p.m. California time; 0035 GMT on Jan. 24). An attempt at a lift off on Sunday night was called off due to poor conditions.

"Standing down from tonights Falcon 9 launch attempt due to weather," SpaceX posted on X (formerly Twitter).

You can watch a live webcast of the launch on Tuesday beginning five minutes before liftoff on X @SpaceX and on SpaceX's website.

A launch attempt on Friday ended with only 57 seconds left in the countdown. SpaceX did not provide an explanation for the aborted liftoff.

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

Should all go as planned, the Falcon 9's first stage will come back to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff for a landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

This will be the 16th launch and landing for this booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Among its previous flights were NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and 10 other Starlink missions.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Falcon 9's upper stage will continue hauling the 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there about 62 minutes after liftoff.

Starlink is SpaceX's broadband megaconstellation. It currently consists of more than 5,250 operational spacecraft, but that number is increasing all the time.

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SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites on Sunday after scrub and delays - Space.com