Vandenberg Air Force Base – Spaceflight Now

Delta 4-Heavy countdown aborted moments before launch

December 9, 2018

A dramatic automatic abort 7.5 seconds before the planned liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket Saturday night kept the towering launcher on the pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with a top secret spy payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy poised for launch with U.S. spy satellite

December 8, 2018

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket stands 233 feet tall at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, ready for liftoff Saturday night carrying a top secret U.S. government spy satellite into orbit.

Live coverage: Delayed flight of ULA’s heavy-lift rocket set for Tuesday night

December 7, 2018

United Launch Alliance has rescheduled the launch of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket from California for Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. PST (8:57 p.m. EST; 0157 GMT Wednesday), 10 days after a technical problem aborted a countdown less than 10 seconds before liftoff. The heavy-lift rocket will send a top secret National Reconnaissance Office spy payload into orbit.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg on SSO-A rideshare mission

December 6, 2018

The first of two launches by SpaceX this week lifted off Monday, Dec. 3, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying 64 microsatellites and CubeSats to an orbit more than 350 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth.

SpaceX launches swarm of satellites, flies rocket for third time

December 3, 2018

Setting new commercial launch and satellite industry records, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled by a first stage booster launched and recovered two times before soared into a clear morning sky over California’s Central Coast on Monday with 64 small satellites, then returned to a pinpoint landing on a vessel parked offshore in the Pacific Ocean, potentially to be flown again.

Timeline of Falcon 9’s launch on the SSO-A mission

December 3, 2018

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with 64 smallsats on Spaceflight’s SSO-A: SmallSat Express rideshare mission.

Spaceflight’s 64-satellite rideshare mission set to last five hours

December 3, 2018

When SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket takes off with 64 small satellites — a payload cache representing 34 customers in 17 nations — it will be just the first act in a nearly five-hour sequence to deftly deploy each of the spacecraft, which range in size from a Rubik’s cube to a refrigerator.

Photos: Twice-flown Falcon 9 rocket prepared for third mission

December 3, 2018

SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket booster for launch Monday at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a record-setting mission with 64 smallsats on-board that will also mark the launch provider’s first use of the same first stage for a third flight.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches record-setting mission from California

December 2, 2018

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 10:34 a.m. PST (1:34 p.m. EST; 1834 GMT) Monday. The launch, under contract to Spaceflight, carried into orbit 64 small satellites from 17 countries, the largest multi-payload rideshare mission ever flown on a U.S. rocket. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster previously flew on two missions from Florida, and landed again on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean after Monday’s launch.

SpaceX launch Monday will signify a new advance in reusing rockets

December 1, 2018

SpaceX teams at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Monday, powered by a reused first stage booster flying on its third mission, a first for the company as engineers continue chasing a long-term goal of re-flying the same rocket on back-to-back days.