Editor's note: SpaceX has successfully launched its first Starlink mission of 2021. Read our full wrap story here.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first Starlink satellite fleet of 2021 on Wednesday (Jan. 20) and you can watch it live online here, courtesy of SpaceX. Liftoff is at 8:02 a.m. EST (1302 GMT), with the webcast beginning about 15 minutes before launch.
The launch was delayed from a Monday launch target due to bad weather at the Falcon 9 rocket's ocean landing site.
Tuesday's launch will mark the 17th Starlink launch by SpaceX as the company works to build megaconstellation of satellites to provide high-speed internet coverage around the world.
The Falcon 9 rocket on this mission has flown seven times before, including four Starlink missions, NASA's first Crew Dragon demonstration flight in 2019, a three-satellite Radarsat constellation for Canada and the SXM-7 mission in December 2020.
From SpaceX:
SpaceX is targeting Monday, January 18 for its seventeenth Starlink mission, which will launch 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center. The instantaneous window is at 8:45 a.m. EST, or 13:45 UTC. A backup opportunity is available on Tuesday, January 19 at 8:23 a.m. EST, or 13:23 UTC.
The Falcon 9 first stage rocket booster supporting this mission previously flew on seven other missions: the SXM-7 mission in December 2020, launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission in June 2019, launch of Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission in March 2019, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship, which will be located in the Atlantic Ocean. One half of Falcon 9’s fairing previously supported a Starlink mission and the other previously supported two.
You can watch a live webcast of this mission, which will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, by clicking the image above.
'ISS Live!' Tune in to the space station
Find out what the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station are up to by tuning in to the "ISS Live" broadcast. Hear conversations between the crew and mission controllers on Earth and watch them work inside the U.S. segment of the orbiting laboratory. When the crew is off duty, you can enjoy live views of Earth from Space. You can watch and listen in the window below, courtesy of NASA.
From NASA:
"Live video from the International Space Station includes internal views when the crew is on-duty and Earth views at other times. The video is accompanied by audio of conversations between the crew and Mission Control. This video is only available when the space station is in contact with the ground. During 'loss of signal' periods, viewers will see a blue screen.
"Since the station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, it experiences a sunrise or a sunset about every 45 minutes. When the station is in darkness, external camera video may appear black, but can sometimes provide spectacular views of lightning or city lights below."
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