SpaceX to launch first Starlink mission of 2021

Updated: Jan 17, 2021 / 10:51 AM CST

In this SpaceX handout image, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launches on the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard at Launch Complex 39A May 30, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The Demo-2 mission is the first launch of a manned SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. It was the first launch of an American crew from U.S. soil since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. (Photo by SpaceX via Getty Images)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — SpaceX is scheduled to launch its first Starlink mission of the new year.

On Monday, the space company will send up its 17th batch of about 60 satellites for its Starlink broadband network.

Monday’s launch will be the first Starlink launch of 2021, but SpaceX launched its first mission of the new year on Jan. 7. The Elon Musk company sent a Turkish communications satellite to help establish telecommunication services over Turkey and other countries.

Liftoff is set for 8:45 a.m. from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A.