Space Launch Complex 4-East – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX to ramp up Vandenberg launch cadence with Starlink missions

April 6, 2021

After a lull in launches from America’s primary West Coast rocket base, SpaceX is set to resume a regular cadence of missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base as soon as July to deploy hundreds of Starlink internet satellites into polar orbits, SpaceX’s president and industry officials said.

Launch of asteroid deflection demonstrator slips to November

March 9, 2021

The launch of a NASA spacecraft designed to smash into an asteroid to try out a technique that could protect Earth from threatening space rocks has slipped from July until November, at the earliest, after development delays partially caused by coronavirus-related work slowdowns.

Photos: Falcon 9 launches and lands at Vandenberg Air Force Base

November 29, 2020

These photos show the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 21 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite.

International satellite launches to extend measurements of sea level rise

November 21, 2020

A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on our home planet.

Photos: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich encapsulated for launch

November 21, 2020

Check out photos of the encapsulation of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite inside the payload shroud of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches oceanography satellite from California

November 21, 2020

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:17 p.m. EST (9:17 a.m. PST; 1717 GMT) Saturday with an oceanography satellite jointly developed by U.S. and European space and weather agencies. The rocket’s first stage booster returned to a bullseye landing back at Vandenberg.

Photos: Falcon 9’s fog-enshrouded launch and landing at Vandenberg

June 17, 2019

These photos show the June 12 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with three Earth-observing satellites for Canada’s Radarsat Constellation Mission.

Three Canadian radar surveillance satellites ride SpaceX rocket into orbit

June 12, 2019

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired through a dense shroud of coastal fog and climbed into orbit Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, deploying a trio of radar observation satellites to begin a $900 million mission surveying the Arctic, maritime waters, forests and farmland for the Canadian government.

Timeline of the Falcon 9 rocket’s launch of the Radarsat Constellation Mission

June 12, 2019

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with three Earth observation satellites for Canada’s Radarsat Constellation Mission.

Photos: Radarsat satellites encapsulated in Falcon 9 payload fairing

June 12, 2019

Canada’s three new Radarsat Earth observation satellites were encapsulated inside the payload fairing of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket ahead of their liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.