SpaceX is set to launch a Starlink mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Tuesday, using a Falcon 9 first-stage booster on its 37th flight. The mission, scheduled for 5:33 a.m. EDT, will deploy 29 broadband satellites to expand the company’s low Earth orbit constellation of over 11,000 spacecraft. The launch will mark the first Starlink flight from Florida this year, as SpaceX shifts focus to Starship preparations at the site.
The flight’s booster, tail number B1067, has been reused 36 times since entering service in June 2021. If it lands successfully on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean, it will complete its 37th mission and set a new reuse record. The booster is expected to touch down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, with SpaceX’s 654th Falcon rocket landing overall.
This Starlink 10-49 mission comes as SpaceX has launched 44 of 76 planned Starlink flights this year from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. No further Starlink missions are currently scheduled from Cape Canaveral, according to the company’s near-term plans. The launch window has a 90% chance of favorable weather, though officials are monitoring potential interference from cumulus and anvil clouds.
SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral team has been refocused on Starship development, with the site’s infrastructure and workforce redirected toward the next-generation heavy-lift rocket. The Falcon 9 launch will be the last Starlink mission from the East Coast for an unspecified period, as the company prioritizes Starship testing and launches from Florida.
Live coverage of the mission will begin about an hour before liftoff, with the rocket heading northeast after clearing the launch pad. The flight will be the 165th landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas, a vessel that has become a key part of SpaceX’s reusability efforts. The mission underscores the company’s ongoing push to reduce costs through booster reuse, even as it transitions to new projects.