Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

Update June 25, 12:51 p.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.

SpaceX is following up its predawn launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station with the flight of another Falcon 9 rocket, this time carrying the company’s Starlink internet satellites on board.

The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-16, has 27 of the Version 2 Mini Optimized satellites on board that will add to a growing constellation of nearly 8,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is targeting liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:03 p.m. EDT (1903 UTC).

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast an 80 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window, citing potential concerns with cumulus clouds in the area. Meteorologists were tracking the chance for some coastal, isolated showers.

SpaceX is using the Falcon 9 booster B1080 to launch the Starlink 10-16 mission, which will be flying for a 20th time. It previously launched Axiom Mission 2, Axiom Mission 3 and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid among others.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1080 will target a landing on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ If successful, it will be the 126th touchdown on the vessel and the 468th booster landing to date.

In the background of this Falcon 9 launch, the newly named Dragon Grace spacecraft is making its way to the space station. Docking is anticipated around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 UTC) on Thursday, June 26, at the space-facing port of the Harmony module.

Axiom Mission 4 represents the fifth trip to space for the mission’s commander, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and the first for her three crew mates.