Sept. 4 (UPI) — SpaceX is targeting early Wednesday afternoon to launch another batch of Starlink satellites in its work to expand wireless Internet around the globe to untouched places, according to sources.
The space company has targeted 12:07 p.m. EDT Wednesday for the liftoff of 21 new Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A live webcast of the mission will begin about five minutes before liftoff.
A backup liftoff time of 12:59 p.m. is looked at and, if needed, an additional launch opportunity is being looked at for 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday the next day.
There is a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for liftoff with a likely presence of cumulus and anvil clouds., according to the 45th Weather Squadron.
Of the 21 satellites, 13 have “direct to cell” capability as have had about half of the satellites in other previous successful missions that were put into low-Earth orbit.
The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-11, if successful will mark the 7,000th Starlink satellite launched to date, according to statistics compiled by an astronomer.