Update: SpaceX is now targeting a 10:18 a.m. PT Thursday, Nov. 20 liftoff.
After a slow start to November, SpaceX is due to launch another Falcon 9 rocket just three days after its last mission from Southern California.
The upcoming spaceflight from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County would be just the third of the month from the West Coast. And once again, it’s not a Starlink mission from SpaceX to deploy a batch of the company’s internet satellites.
Instead, on Nov. 16, a Falcon 9 got off the ground to deploy NASA-designed Sentinel-6B satellites to track rising sea levels. Now, SpaceX is planning the latest in a series of rideshare missions for paying customers, known as Transporter-15.
Plenty of places in Southern California are popular for spectators to gather to watch a rocket launch from Vandenberg. But if you don’t want to travel or fight the crowds, you can also just watch the mission get off the ground from home with a SpaceX livestream.
Here’s everything to know about the latest SpaceX mission, and how to watch a webcast of the Falcon 9 launching.
Is there a rocket launch today? Next liftoff from California
SpaceX is working toward a Wednesday, Nov. 19, launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from Southern California, with a brief launch window the lasts from 10:18 to 11:15 a.m. PT. The launch will take place from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory suggests a backup opportunity is available the next day if the launch were to be postponed.
What is launching from Vandenberg? SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch Transporter-15
SpaceX will launch its famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world’s most active, on a rideshare mission known as Transporter-15.
The payloads, including small satellites for paying customers, are due to be deployed into a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning they match Earth’s rotation around the sun. The mission comes after SpaceX launched Transporter-14 at the end of June, which carried 70 total payloads to orbit, including the remains of 166 individuals for a memorial spaceflight.
How to watch SpaceX livestream
Californians, of course, have plenty of opportunities to see a rocket in person both near the launch site as it lifts off, and further away as it soars overhead.
But SpaceX also provides a live webcast of its missions for those who prefer to watch from home.
As with most SpaceX missions, the launch will be available to stream on the company’s website and its new X TV mobile app, beginning (in this case) about 15 minutes before liftoff. SpaceX may also provide updates on social media site X.
What is SpaceX?
Billionaire 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 only U.S vehicle capable of carrying astronauts to the International Space Station.
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.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: SpaceX plans Falcon 9 launch today in California. Time, how to see rocket liftoff
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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