Vandenberg Space Force Base – Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin one step closer to launching New Glenn from Vandenberg Space Force Base

April 15, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The U.S. Space Force said that it down-selected the company owned by Jeff Bezos to potentially develop a new launch site in California.

SpaceX launches first West Coast Starlink mission of 2026

January 21, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 17-30 mission sent the batch of satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:47:29 p.m. PST (12:47:29 a.m. EST / 0547:29 UTC).

NRO, SpaceX launch reconnaissance satellites from Vandenberg

January 16, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The NROL-105 mission is the first of about a dozen missions planned for 2026 that support the NRO’s so-called proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 8:39:51 p.m. PST (11:39:51 p.m. EST / 0439:51 UTC).

SpaceX deploys NASA’s Pandora, other smallsats amid 1st ‘Twilight’ rideshare mission

January 10, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The flight included 40 deployment events for a variety of payloads, including NASA’s Pandora spacecraft. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 5:44 a.m. PST (8:44 a.m. EST / 1344 UTC).

Dept. of the Air Force opens bidding for Space Launch Complex 14 at Vandenberg SFB

January 6, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The U.S. Space Force aims to attract new launch capabilities for the Western Range to bolster domestic access to space. Responses are due by Feb. 12, 2026.

SpaceX launches Luxembourg’s NAOS, 7 other rideshare satellites from California

August 26, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission featured Luxembourg’s NAOS satellite along with seven other secondary satellites. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:53 a.m. PDT (2:53 p.m. EDT / 1853 UTC).

SpaceX launches Maxar’s first WorldView Legion satellites on Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base

May 2, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission launched the first two of six Earth observation satellites built by Maxar Space Systems. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 11:36 a.m. PDT (2:36 p.m. EDT, 1836 UTC).

SpaceX pulls off Starlink 7-18 mission on fourth day of launch attempts

March 28, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX stood down from launch attempts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Poor weather forced the latest two scrubs, according to SpaceX.

Strong winds stymie back-to-back SpaceX launch plans; Vandenberg launch successful

October 8, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX planned a pair of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches from both coasts but upper level winds scrubbed the liftoff from Florida. A Falcon 9 was able to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:43 a.m. PDT (0743 UTC).

SpaceX delivers 52 more Starlink satellites into orbit

May 31, 2023 Stephen Clark

Another batch of 52 Starlink satellites launched late Tuesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on the way to join SpaceX’s fleet of more than 4,000 spacecraft beaming broadband signals around the world.