How to watch SpaceX Starlink satellite launch — time and what to expect

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 19th batch of approximately 60 Starlink satellites launches from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

(Image credit: SOPA image | Getty Images)

SpaceX is preparing for its next launch, with the deployment of 50 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit scheduled for today (Friday, February 25).

This is obviously not a manned mission, but it will still be well worth watching. SpaceX launches are pretty much always an impressive spectacle, and this one is unlikely to be any different.

The mission is the company’s second of the month, and comes in the wake of SpaceX losing roughly 40 satellites due to a geomagnetic storm disrupting their deployment at the start of the month. Fingers crossed there are no such hitches here.

SpaceX Starlink satellite launch: How to watch

Watching today’s SpaceX Starlink launch will be pretty straightforward as the company will directly stream the event for free on YouTube. The embedded video player above is everything you need to watch, or you can head over to SpaceX’s YouTube channel to watch from there.

SpaceX is hoping to launch at around 12:12 p.m. ET / 9:12 a.m. PT, 5:12 p.m. GMT, but the launch time will be highly weather depended and the company won’t take any chances if the conditions aren’t optimal. The latest information on the launch can be found via the SpaceX Twitter account.

SpaceX Starlink satellite launch: What to expect

This launch will be a little different than most Starlink missions. Typically a mission like this would launch from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but this one will instead come from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This won’t dramatically change the launch, but it’s a nice change of scenery.

For this mission, SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket will be deployed. Once launch is initiated the rocket will shoot up above the Pacific Coast and high into the Earth's altitude in order to deploy the satellite.

There will be cameras on the ground as well as cameras fixed to the Falcon 9 rocket, so expect to see some incredible views of both the launch and the Earth from up high. This SpaceX Starlink satellite launch could be the perfect watch on your lunch break.

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Rory is an Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team.