SpaceX has another rocket launch coming up in California.
Once again, the commercial spaceflight company will use its two-stage Falcon 9 rocket to deploy a batch of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Interested in witnessing the spaceflight? If you’re in California, you have plenty of nearby locations that should offer a view of the rocket thundering off the ground or soaring overhead.
Or, you can just stay home and watch a livestream of the mission.
Here’s everything to know about the latest SpaceX mission, and how to watch a webcast of the Falcon 9 launching in Santa Barbara County.
Is there a rocket launch today? Next liftoff from California
SpaceX is working toward a Saturday, Feb. 7, launch from Southern California, with a four-hour launch window opening at 9:05 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? Falcon 9 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.
How to watch SpaceX launch 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 or for those viewing the launch locally and looking for updates in real-time.
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 about five minutes before liftoff. SpaceX may also provide updates on social media site X.
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.
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 both Florida and California.
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 Vandenberg rocket launch today. How to watch livestream
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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