SpaceX launch to be Florida's 24th of the year Update 3:45 p.m.: Today's mission is slated to become the 24th orbital rocket launch from Florida's Space Coast thus far during 2025. This year's pace is faster than last year's, when a record-breaking 93 launches occurred from the Cape. SpaceX booster to land on drone ship Update 3:37 p.m.: Today's mission marks the Falcon 9 first-stage booster’s 19th flight, SpaceX reported. This much-used booster previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, TD7 and 11 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, crews expect the booster to land on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX Falcon 9 fueling is now underway Update 3:27 p.m.: Falcon 9 fueling procedures are now underway at Launch Complex 40, visual cues indicate. A white band of frost is forming around the rocket's first-stage booster. That means the Starlink mission countdown is now locked in to lift off at 3:57 p.m. without any delays, or else this afternoon's launch must be postponed to a later date. SpaceX Starlink launch weather looks cloud-free Update 3:16 p.m.: National Weather Service radar from the Melbourne Orlando International Airport station shows no significant cloud cover across the Florida peninsula. SpaceX marks 3 Falcon 9 launches within 13 hours Update 3:07 p.m.: SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk celebrated his company's Friday-Saturday back-to-back-to-back Falcon 9 launches within a 13-hour span. That trio of SpaceX liftoffs were NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 from Kennedy Space Center, Transporter-13 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and Starlink 12-16 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. "Congratulations @SpaceX team on three successful rocket flights in half a day!" Musk said in a tweet. SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard Update 2:56 p.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency's launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch. SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon to splash down later today Update 2:46 p.m.:Boeing Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and their Crew-9 mates are scheduled to splash down inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule about 5:57 p.m. near Florida's Big Bend in the Gulf of Mexico, NASA reported. The Dragon should splash down off the coast of Tallahassee. SpaceX Falcon 9 launch countdown Update 2:35 p.m.: Here's a rundown of SpaceX’s upcoming behind-the-scenes Falcon 9 launch countdown timeline highlights. T-minus: 38 minutes: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for propellant load. 35 minutes: Rocket-grade kerosene and first-stage liquid oxygen loading begins. 16 minutes: Second-stage liquid oxygen loading begins. 7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch. 1 minute: Command flight computer begins final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins. 45 seconds: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for launch. 3 seconds: Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start. 0 seconds: Liftoff.