SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket, which integrated 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
Liftoff from launch site SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was on Saturday morning, with ignition expected to occur at 1:55 p.m. EDT, SpaceX confirmed on its launch schedule page.
The California-based space technology company's latest mission will carry another 24 V2 small satellites operated by its Starlink telecom subsidiary.
The company will live stream the operation on X, beginning around five minutes before liftoff, which will mark the 42nd launch of SpaceX from California this year.
The step will bring the total number of Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit to more than 8,400.
The flight will also hold the 28th for this first stage booster, with the Falcon 9 rocket having previously propelled 16 Starlink missions, as well as several other satellite transportation flights.
The rocket was also a participant in NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission in 2022, which conducted a global survey of nearly all water on Earth's surface.
After the launch, the rocket will land back in the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast, where it will be recovered by the company's Of Course I Still Love You droneship.
A separate Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida carrying Northrop Grumman's Cygnus mission 23 to the International Space Station.
