Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg SFB scheduled for Friday afternoon

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – SpaceX has designated a launch window of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg SFB for Friday, May 23 at 3:32 p.m. with backup opportunities until 5:36 p.m. of the same day.

An additional launch window has been announced for the following day, Saturday, May 24 beginning at 1:14 p.m.

A live webcast of the launch will begin about five minutes before liftoff and you can watch it here.

Following first-stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster assigned to this mission will return to Earth to land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship awaiting in the Pacific Ocean.

The image below is a visual depiction of that launch sequence courtesy of SpaceX.

There is a possibility that people in the area may hear one or more sonic booms associated with the launch, but how far the sound travels will depend on weather and other conditions at the time of the launch.

This will be the 18th flight for the first-stage booster assigned to this mission which previously launched the following missions: SDA-0A, SARah-2, Transporter-11, and 14 previous Starlink missions.