SpaceX is set to launch 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg SFB on Falcon 9, with timing moved back before liftoff.
A Falcon 9 countdown is back in focus as SpaceX prepares another Starlink push from California, sending 24 broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit.
Misryoum reports that the planned liftoff for the Starlink 17-29 mission at Vandenberg Space Force Base has been delayed, with the launch time adjusted by SpaceX ahead of T-0. The mission will rise from Space Launch Complex 4 East, continuing the company’s routine of rapid, back-to-back deployments.
The goal is straightforward but consequential: adding 24 satellites to the growing Starlink constellation, which now includes more than 10,000 spacecraft. This type of mass deployment is designed to steadily expand broadband coverage by increasing the number of satellites operating overhead.
Even small schedule changes like a pushed liftoff can ripple through launch-day planning, including tracking, coverage, and mission timing for controllers and partners.
According to Misryoum. the rocket will launch using Falcon 9’s first stage booster designated B1081. which has flown numerous prior missions. including NASA’s Crew-7 and recent science and cargo flights.. About eight minutes into flight. the booster is expected to attempt a landing on the company’s drone ship. “Of Course I Still Love You. ” if everything goes as planned.
The mission’s trajectory is also part of the standard playbook: after leaving the pad. the rocket will follow a south-southwesterly path.. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:59:19 p.m.. PDT (11:59:19 p.m.. EDT / 0359:19 UTC), with coverage typically beginning roughly half an hour before liftoff as the countdown nears its final moments.
For the public, these launches are more than headline events. Each deployment chips away at gaps in service availability, while also testing the reliability of reusable rockets and the logistics behind rapid satellite addition.
Misryoum notes that live coverage will be available starting about 30 minutes before liftoff, as viewers track the sequence from liftoff to booster recovery. If the landing succeeds, it would mark another step in SpaceX’s ongoing cadence of reusing hardware for frequent missions.
In the bigger picture, frequent Starlink launches underscore how quickly space infrastructure is becoming a continuous process, not a one-off project, shaping connectivity plans far beyond the launch site.