Update: The launch has been postponed from Monday, Aug. 11 to Tuesday, Aug. 12, with the launch window targeted for 7:05 p.m. to 11:05 p.m. PT, the Vandenberg Space Force Base said in a launch alert.
Ready to see a SpaceX Falcon 9 blast off into the sky? The first California rocket launch of August could take place this weekend.
SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, appears to be planning a Starlink satellite deployment mission in the days ahead from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. The impending launch from the spaceport, located in Santa Barbara County along the state’s southern coast, would be the first since July 31 in California.
And fortunately for those who enjoy watching the rockets get off the ground, the mission appears to be on track for an evening launch – making conditions ideal to catch the spacecraft climbing high.
As you make your rocket viewing plans, though, keep this in mind: Launches can be – and often are – scrubbed or delayed due to any number of factors, including poor weather conditions or unexpected issues with spacecraft. Check back with the VC Star for any updates on the impending rocket launch.
In the meantime, here’s what to know about the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, as well as when and where to watch it:
What time is the SpaceX rocket launch from California?
A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory suggests SpaceX is working toward a weekend launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The four-hour launch window is set to open at 7:05 p.m. PT Saturday, Aug. 9, with backup opportunities available the next day, if needed, according to SpaceX.
Where is the next launch from California?
The launch will take place from Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Most launches from Vandenberg fly at a south or southeast trajectory.
What is the next mission launching from Vandenberg in California?
The spaceflight will make use of the company’s famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world’s most active, to deliver 24 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The altitude is low enough to allow for things like satellites to circle Earth fairly quickly.
How to watch SpaceX Starlink launch livestream
SpaceX will provide a webcast of the Starlink launch on its website beginning about five minutes before liftoff, along with updates on social media site X.
Where to watch the Starlink launch in California
Because Vandenberg is an active military base, the launch complex does not host public viewings of launches.
But if conditions are clear, rocket launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base can be viewed from several locations as far as Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
Space Launch Schedule, a website dedicated to tracking upcoming rocket launches, provided a list of places in California to catch the launch in person:
The city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County is filled with places to catch a rocket launch. The city’s tourism bureau, Explore Lompoc, even maintains this list with additional viewing locations:
Other cities in California where you might glimpse the Falcon 9 rocket soaring overhead as it climbs into the sky on a southern trajectory include:
Will there be sonic booms?
Residents of Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County could hear sonic booms, according to Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Sonic booms are brief, thunder-like noises that are often heard from the ground when a spacecraft or aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound.
What to know about re-entry
Following the launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s booster will aim to land on a SpaceX drone ship, nicknamed “Of Course I Still Love You,” in the Pacific Ocean. This allows for SpaceX personnel to recover the booster so it can be reused in future spaceflights.
What is SpaceX?
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, founded SpaceX in 2002.
The commercial spaceflight company is headquartered at Starbase in South Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. The site, which is where SpaceX has been conducting routine flight tests of its 400-foot megarocket known as Starship, was recently voted by residents to become its own city.
SpaceX conducts many of its own rocket launches, most using the Falcon 9 rocket, from California and Florida. That includes a regular cadence of deliveries of Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and occasional privately funded commercial crewed missions on the Dragon.
The most recent of SpaceX’s private human spaceflights, a mission known as Fram2, took place in April. SpaceX was also famously involved in funding and operating the headline-grabbing Polaris Dawn crewed commercial mission in September 2024.
SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads.
What is Starlink?
Owned by Musk, Starlink is a constellation of nearly 8,000 satellites that provide internet service to customers around the world. SpaceX has spent more than six years delivering the satellites to orbit with a regular cadence of rocket launches from both Florida and California.
While most satellite internet services operate from single geostationary satellites orbiting Earth at about 22,236 miles, Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that operate from a low-Earth orbit, about 341 miles up. That allows Starlink’s satellites to have lower latency and data time between user and the satellite, improving performance of things like streaming, online gaming and video calls.
Residential plans for Starlink services start at $80 per month.
What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California?
The Vandenberg Space Force Base is a rocket launch site in Santa Barbara County in Southern California.
Established in 1941, the site was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Though it’s a military base, the site also hosts both civil and commercial space launches for entities like NASA and SpaceX.
Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of Space Force, is responsible for managing the launch operations at Vandenberg, as well as the missile tests that take place at the base.
Contributing: Jennifer Sangalang, USA TODAY Network
This article has been updated to add new information.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: California rocket launch today: Where to watch 1st SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff of August
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
