SpaceX Launching 60 'Starlink' Internet Satellites Tonight: Watch Live

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There will be a rocket landing as well.

Update for 11 p.m. EDT: SpaceX has successfully launched its 1st 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. Deployment is coming up next. Read our full story here!

SpaceX plans to launch the first 60 members of its Starlink internet-satellite constellation to low Earth orbit tonight (May 23), and you can watch the liftoff live.

A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT on May 24). Shortly thereafter, the booster's reusable first stage will come back to Earth for a landing attempt on a SpaceX "drone ship" stationed off the Florida coast.

You can catch all the action live here at Space.com courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the spaceflight company.

Related: SpaceX's Falcon 9: Rocket for the Dragon

A successful touchdown, by the way, would be the third for this particular Falcon 9 first stage. The booster also helped launch commercial communications satellites in September 2018 and January of this year.

Together, the 60 Starlink satellites weigh about 18.5 tons (16.8 metric tons), heavier than any other payload that SpaceX has launched, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said.

This will be the first of many launches for the Starlink constellation, which is designed to provide affordable internet access to people around the world. About 800 satellites are needed for "moderate" coverage, and the network may eventually consist of 12,000 or so spacecraft, Musk said.

Starlink is no mere sidelight for SpaceX; revenue from the constellation will help the company develop its Mars-colonizing transportation system, Musk has said.

Several other companies see big potential profits in internet satellites as well. For example, OneWeb and Amazon plan to loft megaconstellations of their own in the near future.

Tonight's launch was originally scheduled to take place on May 15, but SpaceX called off that try because of high winds. The company scrubbed an attempt the next night as well, with SpaceX saying it wanted to update software and perform additional checks.

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.