Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch its first batch of Starlink satellites in November. The company has at least eight such missions planned before the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The mission, dubbed Starlink 6-81, will see 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites sent to low Earth orbit. The spacecraft will deployed all at once a little more than an hour after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 is scheduled for 6:48 p.m. EST (2348 UTC). The rocket will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window. Meteorologists weren’t concerned with any particular weather phenomena that would impact liftoff or booster recovery.

SpaceX will launch the Starlink 6-81 mission using its Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1094. This will be its fifth trip to space and back following the launches of Crew-11, Ax-4, NG-23 and Starlink 12-10.

About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1094 will target an autonomous landing on the drone ship, ‘Just Read the Instructions’, which is positioned in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of The Bahamas. If all goes well, this will be the 140th booster landing on this vessel and the 529th booster landing to date.