Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
Quick Summary
The Starlink 17-52 mission is SpaceX’s 90th orbital launch of the year so far. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 7:59 p.m. PDT (10:59 p.m. EDT / 0259 UTC).
Space Explainer: The ISS & Life in Orbit
The International Space Station has been continuously staffed since November 2000, making it the longest-running human outpost off Earth. It orbits roughly 400km up, circling the planet every 90 minutes at about 28,000 km/h — meaning the crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes.
Crew members typically rotate every 5-6 months, arriving and departing on Soyuz or Crew Dragon spacecraft. Their days are tightly scheduled around scientific experiments in microgravity, station maintenance, and roughly 2.5 hours of mandatory daily exercise to counteract the bone and muscle loss that comes from living without gravity.
Track the ISS Crew LiveSource: Spaceflight Now
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