Florida SpaceX rocket launch rescheduled again; now expected Saturday night

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – SpaceX is gearing up to send another batch of Starlink satellites soaring into low-Earth orbit on Saturday night from Florida.

The launch was previously scrubbed on Thursday, Friday and early Saturday morning.

When is the launch?

What we know:

A Falcon 9 rocket will blast off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, carrying 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities.

Liftoff is scheduled for Saturday night at 8:53 p.m. If necessary, backup launch options will be available until 12:42 a.m. on Sunday.

An additional launch window will open at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday if needed.

How to watch and stream the rocket launch live

SpaceX will stream the launch live here.

Many launches are also visible from various locations in Florida, especially along the coast, including public viewing areas near Cape Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center, depending on the mission.

By the numbers:

This launch will mark the 10th flight of the first-stage booster used for this mission, having previously supported Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Astranis: From One to Many, IM-2, and four separate Starlink launches.

The backstory:

Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, has been expanding rapidly, with frequent launches adding to its growing network in low-Earth orbit. The company’s Direct to Cell capability aims to eliminate mobile dead zones by allowing standard cell phones to connect directly to satellites without requiring additional hardware.