You can watch the exciting launch of SpaceX’s 51 Starlink internet satellites later today

It’s here! SpaceX is about to launch 51 Starlink internet satellites on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, and you’ll be able to watch it live on YoutTube. The channel is set to stream it live at 10:48 p.m. ET. For all of you who love science and space, you really won’t want to miss this occasion!

SpaceX is launching the Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which will happen at 7:48 pm local time at the base. While the company had planned to do the launch this past Monday, bad weather led to its cancellation. To make sure everything was in order, the delay lasted until this evening, or tomorrow morning, depending on where you live.

I was quite excited to share this news with you. I’m a keen astronomer in my own private capacity, and I’ve been keeping an eye on SpaceX’s projects. No, it has nothing to do with Elon Musk owning the company. Instead, I’m interested to see what it plans for the future, especially any further observations on Mars.

What’s fascinating is that Falcon 9 will take about nine minutes to spring the satellites into orbit, return to Earth, and carefully land on the waiting droneship in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, that’s if everything goes according to plan. While it’s in the best interest of everyone involved that it does, sometimes, these things go terribly wrong. 

What’s astounding is that SpaceX already has so many satellites orbiting the Earth, and has requested approval for another 30,000. Pretty soon, the planet will have a ring around it like Saturn filled with satellites.