The first of what could end up being a whopping three rocket launches within a week in California is coming up.
Ready to see liftoff? If you’re looking for some recommendations of locations to catch a glimpse of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasting off, you’ve come to the right place.
The 230-foot rocket is due to get off the ground from the Vandenberg Space Force Base on a mission to deploy SpaceX’s broadband Starlink internet satellites into orbit.
Just keep in mind that postponements due to weather or issues with rockets are common with spaceflight. Check back with the VC Star for any updates on the impending launch.
In the meantime, here’s what to know about the upcoming SpaceX rocket launch from Vandenberg in Santa Barbara County, as well as where to watch it.
Is there a rocket launch today? Next mission from Vandenberg in California
SpaceX is working toward a Tuesday, Feb. 24, launch from Southern California, with a four-hour launch window opening at 6 a.m. PT.
A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory suggests a backup opportunity is available the next day if the launch were to be postponed.
Where is the next launch from California? What to know about trajectory
The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 4E at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
As has become typical in 2026, the rocket will fly at a southern trajectory.
What is launching from Vandenberg? SpaceX to deploy Starlink satellites
SpaceX will launch its famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world’s most active, to deliver 25 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, an altitude nearer Earth’s atmosphere where they’re able to circle the planet quickly.
Where to watch California rocket launches in Santa Barbara County
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 Santa Barbara County 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, maintains this list with additional viewing locations:
Where to watch California rocket launches in Ventura County
Visit Ventura, the tourism bureau in Ventura County, provided a list to the USA TODAY Network of suggested locations to see a rocket launch from the county:
Where to watch California rocket launches in San Luis Obispo County
SLO CAL, a countywide destination marketing and management organization, maintains a list of its recommended best locations to watch a rocket launch in San Luis Obispo County to the north of the launch site:
Other cities in California where rockets may be visible
Other cities in California where you might glimpse the Falcon 9 rocket soaring overhead – particularly after sunset and before sunrise – 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 often stand to be the most likely to hear sonic booms, SpaceX said.
The sonic booms brief, thunder-like noises that are often heard from the ground when a spacecraft or aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, could last for up to 10 minutes after liftoff, Vandenberg has added.
“Areas local to Vandenberg Space Force Base will hear the initial low rumble of take-off,” Vandenberg has also said.
What to know about booster 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?
SpaceX is the commercial spaceflight company that billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, founded in 2002 and leads as the CEO.
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 only U.S vehicle capable of carrying astronauts to the International Space Station.
The most recent of SpaceX’s private human spaceflights, a mission known as Fram2, took place in April 2025. 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?
Starlink is SpaceX’s lucrative satellite internet business.
Owned by Musk, Starlink has grown into a constellation of nearly 9,000 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 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.
That means the satellites are equipped to make internet service accessible in rural areas and other regions that have been traditionally harder to reach.
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
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Is there a rocket launch today? SpaceX plans liftoff from Vandenberg
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
