ALEXANDRIA, VA -If you’re up before sunrise Thursday, take a moment to look east.
A SpaceX – Starlink Mission is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at about 6 a.m.Eastern Time, carrying another batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink network.
Because the launch is happening just before sunrise, there’s a chance skywatchers along much of the East Coast — including Northern Virginia — could catch a glimpse of the rocket or its glowing exhaust plume high in the atmosphere.
Pre-dawn launches can create a striking visual effect. As the rocket climbs above the atmosphere, sunlight hits the expanding exhaust plume even while the ground below remains dark…