SpaceX plans to expand the company’s historic Starlink constellation with the launch of 58 more satellites from Florida on Saturday morning.
The payload is to lift off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:21 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is adjacent to Kennedy Space Center.
The launch will be the ninth regular Starlink mission, boosting the number of Starlink satellites in orbit to 538 — the most ever for any such constellation.
The launch is unique in that SpaceX planned to put sunshades on all the Starlink satellites as part of the company’s effort to make them less visible from the ground.
Astronomers and other sky gazers have complained that bright reflections from the satellites can ruin observations of the heavens.
The rocket also will carry three SkySat satellites for the San Francisco-based space company Planet, formerly branded as Planet Labs, and represents the first launch for SpaceX’s SmallSat rideshare program.
