SpaceX is getting ready to kick off the back half of 2026 with a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday night.
The Starlink 17-46 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation that consists of more than 10,700 satellites. SpaceX launched nearly 1,600 satellites during the first half of 2026.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 7:57 p.m. PDT (10:57 p.m. EDT / 0257 UTC). The rocket will fly on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
SpaceX will launch the Starlink 17-46 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1100. This will be its seventh flight after previously launching the NROL-105 mission along with five previous batches of Starlink satellites.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1100 will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 207th landing on this vessel and the 632nd booster landing for SpaceX to date.
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