SpaceX set to launch nearly 2 dozen new Starlink satellites

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- SpaceX on Monday will launch a Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit outfitted with 21 Starlink satellites, 13 of which will have direct-to-cell capabilities.

The liftoff will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at about 11:26 p.m. ET with other backup slots until 3:06 am local time very early on Tuesday morning.

If need be, another launch opportunity will be slated for 10:47 p.m local time.

A live webcast of the mission will begin roughly five minutes prior to liftoff or earlier.

It will represent the first flight of the first stage booster in support of this mission and following its stage separation, will land on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department moved to drop a discrimination case against SpaceX over the company's hiring practices.