SpaceX delays launch of next 60 Starlink internet satellites to Thursday

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 58 Starlink satellites and three Planet SkySats into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Aug. 18, 2020.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 58 Starlink satellites and three Planet SkySats into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Aug. 18, 2020. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has pushed the launch of its next big batch of Starlink internet satellites back two days, to Thursday (Sept. 3).

A Falcon 9 rocket had been scheduled to loft the 60 Starlink satellites on Tuesday morning (Sept. 1) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But those plans have changed, SpaceX representatives announced today (Aug. 31).

"Now targeting Thursday, September 3 at 8:46 a.m. EDT for launch of Starlink from Launch Complex 39A, pending Range acceptance — team is using additional time for data review," SpaceX said via Twitter this afternoon. ("Range" refers to the Eastern Range, the U.S. Space Force entity that oversees launches from the East Coast.)

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SpaceX will attempt to land the Falcon 9 first stage on a ship at sea during Thursday's Starlink mission. You can watch all of Thursday's action live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company.

SpaceX has already launched 600 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. But the constellation will get far bigger than that, if things go according to plan: SpaceX has approval to loft 12,000 Starlink spacecraft and has applied for permission to launch about 30,000 more on top of that.

The upcoming Starlink launch was originally targeted for Sunday (Aug. 30), but bad weather scuttled that attempt.

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

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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.