Falcon 9 launch scheduled Thursday evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – SpaceX has selected a launch window at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Sep. 12, for a Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites destined for low-Earth orbit.
Backup launch windows have been designated for the same day until 9:49 p.m. as well as Friday, Sep. 13 beginning at 3:35 p.m. shared SpaceX.
You can tune in for a live webcast of the launch that will begin five minutes before liftoff that you can watch here.
Of the payload of 21 Starlink satellites on this launch, 13 will have Direct to Cell capability which links terrestrial cell phones to orbiting satellites as shown in the image below, courtesy of Starlink.
After first stage separation, the booster will return to Earth to land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship awaiting in the Pacific Ocean depicted below.
This will be the 18th flight for the reusable first-stage booster that previously launched the following missions: NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, and ten Starlink missions.
