Vandenberg Air Force Base – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX rocket passes key preflight test before liftoff from California

June 20, 2017

Juggling simultaneous launch campaigns on both coasts, a team of SpaceX engineers put a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary countdown rehearsal and hold-down firing Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ahead of a scheduled liftoff Sunday.

Falcon 9 launch delay sets up potential SpaceX ‘doubleheader’ next weekend

June 18, 2017

SpaceX has pushed back the liftoff of a Bulgarian television broadcast satellite on the company’s second previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket until at least Friday, giving ground crews time to replace a valve on the launcher inside a hangar at its Florida launch pad.

Iridium hails performance of new satellites, targets four more launches this year

April 28, 2017

Eight of Iridium’s first ten upgraded communications satellites launched in January started providing voice and data relay service ahead of schedule, and SpaceX says it can launch up to 40 more Iridium spacecraft by the end of the year, Iridium officials reported Thursday.

Pioneering Earth observation satellite retired by NASA

April 1, 2017

NASA has decommissioned a long-lived satellite launched in 2000 that demonstrated remote sensing and surveying instruments and techniques common in today’s orbiting Earth observatories.

Photos: News media images of Atlas 5 launch

March 2, 2017

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California played host to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that sent the NROL-79 payload into orbit today.

Photos: Atlas 5 delivers success on 70th Launch

March 2, 2017

For its 70th launch in 14 years, the Atlas 5 rocket carried the NROL-79 payload into space for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Atlas 5 powers covert reconnaissance payload to orbit on its 70th mission

March 1, 2017

Performing a successful spacelift mission for the U.S. spy satellite agency, an Atlas 5 rocket delivered a surveillance package into orbit today believed by analysts to be another pair of tandem sleuths to scoop up radio signals from adversarial ships at sea.

Video: NROL-79 launch aboard Atlas 5

March 1, 2017

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine at 9:49:51 a.m. local time today to launch the secret NROL-79 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Photos: Pad gantry rolled back to reveal Atlas 5 for launch

March 1, 2017

The mobile service tower retracts from the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 191-foot-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the classified NROL-79 national security payload for the U.S. government.

Timeline: Atlas 5/NROL-79 launch events

February 28, 2017

Follow the unclassified portion of the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent to space from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-79 satellite payload. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. EST; 1750 GMT).