SpaceX will launch 58 Starlink satellites, 3 Planet SkySats Saturday. Here's how to watch.

The Falcon 9 rocket booster that launched the CRS-19 cargo mission for NASA, seen here in December 2019, will launch a fleet of Starlink and Planet satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on June 13, 2020.
The Falcon 9 rocket booster that launched the CRS-19 cargo mission for NASA, seen here in December 2019, will launch a fleet of Starlink and Planet satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on June 13, 2020. (Image credit: SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The private spaceflight company SpaceX will launch 58 new Starlink satellites to join its ever-growing broadband internet megaconstellation in orbit Saturday (June 13), and you can watch it live online.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Starlink mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 5:21 a.m. EDT (0921 GMT). 

You can watch SpaceX's Starlink launch webcast here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before liftoff. You'll also be able to watch the launch directly from SpaceX here

Related: SpaceX's Starlink satellite megaconstellation launches in photos

This is SpaceX's ninth launch of the year and the ninth Starlink launch to date. SpaceX is keeping up a busy launch cadence as June is shaping up to be a four launch month. SpaceX kicked off this rapid pace with the launch of two NASA astronauts — Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken — on May 30, followed by a Starlink launch four days later on June 3. Now, with just over a week since its last launch, SpaceX will loft another batch of its internet-beaming satellites into space. 

But this time, the payload will contain other passengers. As part of a rideshare agreement with the Earth-imaging company Planet, SpaceX will launch three small SkySat satellites for the California-based imaging company — a first for the Starlink program. 

The rideshare means that SpaceX will only be able to launch 58 of its Starlink satellites, as opposed to the traditional 60, leaving room for Planet to hop on board. This is not SpaceX's first rideshare mission, but the first time its Starlink satellite stack will share fairing space with another customer. 

But it won’t be the last. Planet has booked room on the next Starlink mission for another three SkySats as well. 

Related: Astronomers, SpaceX working to make Starlink less disruptive to science

The upcoming SpaceX launch will star a veteran Falcon 9 rocket that already has two missions under its belt. The booster, designated B1059 by SpaceX, previously launched two science missions to the International Space Station — CRS-19 in December 2019, and CRS-20 in March of this year. 

Flying previously flown boosters has become commonplace for SpaceX, but this launch will be a bit unusual. For the first time, the company will not fire up the rocket as part of preflight testing. This type of test is a routine practice for the company and involves fueling and briefly firing the rocket’s nine engines while it is held down on the pad. 

SpaceX is both the launch provider as well as the customer for its Starlink missions, and its fleet of flight proven boosters have proven to be reliable rockets. In fact, the Falcon 9 recently earned the title of most-flown American rocket this year — a title that was previously held by the Atlas V. 

To date, the Falcon 9 has proven that the same booster can launch and land five times, as witnessed during the previous Starlink launch on June 3. That booster recently returned to port, atop SpaceX's former West Coast-based drone ship, “Just Read the Instructions”. That ship was moved to the Cape and received some sweet upgrades prior to entering service on the Starlink 7 mission. 

Now that SpaceX has two fully operational drone ships, the company is able to launch more rockets. The original East Coast ship, "Of Course I Still Love You," is already at the recovery zone, waiting for its turn to catch B1059, when it returns to Earth on Saturday. 

Related: Why SpaceX's Starlink satellites caught astronomers off guard

The goal of SpaceX's Starlink project is to provide users around the world with constant, high-speed internet access. The company plans to achieve that by launching a massive constellation of broadband internet satellites. 

Users on the ground would then operate a small terminal — no bigger than a laptop — to gain internet access. 

As evident by the launches so far this year, the majority of SpaceX's missions in 2020 will consist of sending Starlink satellites into space. This is the eighth Starlink launch of the year, which brings the company’s fleet of internet-beaming satellites to approximately 500. 

SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk has previously stated that the company will need at least 400 Starlink satellites in orbit to offer "minor" broadband coverage, and at least 800 to provide "moderate" coverage. With this launch, they are more than halfway to that moderate coverage goal. 

The weather on Saturday is looking promising, with only a 30% chance of weather violation, according to forecasters at the 45th Weather Squadron. Temperatures in the area are supposed to be around 70 degrees with a few scattered clouds.

Related: SpaceX's Starlink satellites surprise British skywatchers

In addition to a planned booster recovery, SpaceX has already deployed its two fairing-catching ships: GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief in hopes of snagging the payload fairings as they fall back to Earth. The previous recovery attempt was thwarted by rough seas at the recovery zone; the ships were able to bring one fairing piece back intact, the other broke apart as it landed in the ocean. 

But SpaceX will try again. The company aims to cut down on launch costs by recovering more pieces of its rockets. Currently the company has successfully recovered 53 first stage boosters and GO Ms. Tree has made three successful fairing catches. With any luck, the company will see its first double catch Saturday. 

Visit Space.com Saturday for complete coverage of SpaceX's Starlink launch. 

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Amy Thompson
Contributing Writer

Amy Thompson is a Florida-based space and science journalist, who joined Space.com as a contributing writer in 2015. She's passionate about all things space and is a huge science and science-fiction geek. Star Wars is her favorite fandom, with that sassy little droid, R2D2 being her favorite. She studied science at the University of Florida, earning a degree in microbiology. Her work has also been published in Newsweek, VICE, Smithsonian, and many more. Now she chases rockets, writing about launches, commercial space, space station science, and everything in between.

  • Alfred Herman Schrader
    What's interesting is the 58 satellites were built in Port St. John, Florida the same place where me and Hiatt invented the Internet. For those interested that house is still there where Hiatt set-up the IBM-PC and we sent some of the first "net" green monochrome text over the phone lines.
    Reply
  • Alfred Herman Schrader said:
    What's interesting is the 58 satellites were built in Port St. John, Florida the same place where me and Hiatt invented the Internet. For those interested that house is still there where Hiatt set-up the IBM-PC and we sent some of the first "net" green monochrome text over the phone lines.

    Sure, you and Al Gore. I always believed that the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) invented the internet, but then again I just a kid who learned to use a computer on a Tandy 1000HX.
    Reply
  • Alfred Herman Schrader
    Paul Broadway said:
    Sure, you and Al Gore. I always believed that the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) invented the internet, but then again I just a kid who learned to use a computer on a Tandy 1000HX.
    Al Gore wasn't there. It was just me and Hiatt in his living room.
    We didn't start a business. Both of us were working for a NASA/Defense Contractor at the time . Tandy had something called a TRS-80. Hiatt used to call it a trash-80
    There were more things going on at that time if you are interested. I have my own tech garage now. It's where I invented the Bytecoin and dozens of other things:
    Reply
  • Garland
    Planet Labs is in DEEP financial trouble. They are doing some very desperate, dishonest and unscrupolous things to both staff and investors as a result of their eminent demise.

    INVESTORS, CUT YOUR LOSSES AND TREAT PLANET LIKE TOXIC WASTE.
    Reply
  • Lovethrust
    No! I am
    Alfred Herman Schrader said:
    Al Gore wasn't there. It was just me and Hiatt in his living room.
    We didn't start a business. Both of us were working for a NASA/Defense Contractor at the time . Tandy had something called a TRS-80. Hiatt used to call it a trash-80
    There were more things going on at that time if you are interested. I have my own tech garage now. It's where I invented the Bytecoin and dozens of other things:
    NO! I AM SPARTACUS!
    Reply