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SpaceX plans to launch 23 Starlink communications satellites into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Friday morning, weather permitting.
The planned 11:28 a.m. PT liftoff will be the first of a pair of SpaceX launches scheduled for Friday the 13th. The other will carry a GPS navigation satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida so 
by Mark Moran
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 12, 2024
SpaceX plans to launch 23 Starlink communications satellites into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Friday morning, weather permitting.
The planned 11:28 a.m. PT liftoff will be the first of a pair of SpaceX launches scheduled for Friday the 13th. The other will carry a GPS navigation satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida sometime between 6:30 p.m. ET and 10:30 p.m.
There are backup opportunities later in the day Friday and on Saturday for the Vandenberg launch, if needed.
This will be the ninth mission for the first stage booster, which carries the liquid fuel used by the Falcon 9 rocket during liftoff and as the rocket makes its way into low-Earth orbit to deploy its payload.
About eight minutes after lifting off from Vandenberg, and having expended a million pounds of kerosene, the Falcon 9 will jettison the first stage booster, which will return and land on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean.
Weather forecasters are predicting winds of up to 15 mph near the launch site Friday, which could create rough seas and prevent the rocket from landing safely.
This booster has been used in half a dozen previous Starlink missions, and it launched Oneweb 4 and USSF-62.
SpaceX will broadcast its launches live on X.
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