Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base scheduled for Friday morning
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – SpaceX announced that a Falcon 9 launch carrying 20 Starlink satellites destined for low-Earth orbit has been scheduled for Friday, Sep. 20, at 6:50 a.m.
Back-up opportunities are available until 7:04 a.m. on Friday as well as Saturday, Sep. 21, starting at 6:26 a.m.
Of those 20 Starlink satellites, 13 will have Direct-to-Cell capabilities detailed SpaceX.
A depiction of Starlink's Direct-to-Cell system is provided below courtesy of Starlink.
A live webcast of the launch will begin about five minutes before liftoff and can be watched here.
After first-stage separation, the Falcon 9 will return to Earth to land on the Of Course I Still Love You, an autonomous drone ship awaiting in the Pacific Ocean as shown in the image below.
This will be the 13th flight for the first-stage booster selected for the mission which has previously launched the following missions: SDA-0A, Transporter-11, SARah-2, and nine Starlink missions.